Girls water polo: Scouting Conant in the Elite Eight

Girls water polo: Scouting Conant in the Elite Eight

Friday's quartefinals at Stevenson:

Lincoln-Way North (27-5) vs. Naperville Central (29-4), 4:30 p.m.

Conant (20-12) vs. Mother McAuley (25-6-1), 5:45 p.m.

Fenwick (27-5-1) vs. New Trier (25-8), 7 p.m.

Stevenson (32-1) vs. St. Ignatius (25-3), 8:15 p.m.

Scouting Mother McAuley vs. Conant: The Might Macs check in at No. 5 in illpolo.com's rankings, while Conant is No. 13. Mother McAuley had a streak of four straight Elite Eight appearances before missing out last year, while Conant is back for the second straight time. Freshman Paulina Correa (82 goals, 30 assists) and senior Claire Mueller (52 goals, 32 assists) lead the scoring load, but the Mighty Macs feature a deep, capable attack. They came within 1 goal of beating Stevenson on April 16, falling 12-11. Conant senior Sam Wooley (88 goals, 24 assists) and junior Paulina Chowaniec (65 goals, 18 assists) lead the way, along with emerging junior goalie Cam Rosas. The Cougars have been especially effective on the counter-attack recently.

Tournament at glance: Stevenson is ranked No. 1 by illpolo.com, with its only loss coming to the No. 2 team, Fenwick, in a tournament hosted by the Friars. The Patriots, led by Long Beach State-bound Alison Travetto, are also the defending state champs. Third-ranked St. Ignatius has become an Elite Eight regular, having earned its eighth straight state tourney trip; Diana Fernandez (84 goals) and Stephania Lopez (79) bring plenty of firepower. The rest of the field is strong as well, with illpolo's No. 6 (Naperville Central), 7 (New Trier) and 9 teams (Lincoln-Way North) taking part.

- Aaron Gabriel