January 14, 2012

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Former Hartwick College standouts Bronwen Knox, Sophie Smith and Marina Zablith, along with Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame inductee/former University of Michigan player Betsey Armstrong were on the roster as their teams continued play on Day 5 to set the placement games at the 2012 Water Polo PanPacs in Melbourne, Australia.

Zablith, who played in 2007 at Hartwick, accounted for a third of Brazil's scoring as her squad fell to Canada by a 19-3 final score.  Brazil will next be in action at 8:00 a.m. local time on Saturday, January 14 against the Australia "B" team in the fifth place game.

Knox, a two-time All-America selection and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) First Team All-Northern Division in 2005 and 2006, scored twice in the third period as the Aussies "B" squad fell in a 12-5 loss to the United States.  Armstrong, who racked up a pair of divisional Most Valuable Player accolades (2003-04) and four CWPA All-Division First Team honors (2002-05) to accompany four All-America nods (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005) at Michigan, did not play in the game for the USA.

In the highlight match of the day, Smith, a 2005 All-Collegiate Water Polo Association Northern Division First Team selection, took the position of Knonx on the Australia "A" team but did not score as the Aussies handled China 8-7.

With the victory, Australia will now face the United States at 2:15 p.m. on January 14 for the tournament title.

Overall, Smith leads all CWPA alumnae in scoring with six goals in four goals entering the final day of competition, with fellow former Hartwick players Knox (4 goals in 6 games) and Zablith (3 goals in 5 games) following in order.

Contestetd at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Australia from Sunday, January 8 to Saturday, January 14, the Water Polo PanPacs is a new tournament designed to provide Pacific Rim water polo nations with a sporting equivalent to the Pan Pacific swimming championships.

One of the main driving points was to provide a vehicle that not only established regular competitive matches for countries in the region, but to increase the growth of the sport outside of Europe.

The coaches from all competing nations have been heavily involved in the organization, aiming to create an event that can not only rival tournaments such as the European Championships, but help such countries aspire to win competitions like the Olympics and World Championships.

Overall, seven different nations will contest the championships with Australia fielding two teams in both the men’s and women’s draw.

America, China and Brazil sent both men’s and women’s teams, while Japan and New Zealand entered only men’s squad.  Canada is exclusively fielding a women’s team for the event.

During the week a total of 42 games will be played, culminating with gold and bronze medal matches on the Saturday. Playoffs for all positions will also be conducted on the final day.

The second Australian teams, known as the Barbarians, will be not eligible to take the championship and will only be allowed to play in the women’s 5th vs. 6th playoff match.

More information on the PanPacs Championships is available by clicking here.