(Lebanon, Ill., Sept. 1) – The McKendree University men's water polo team opens up their 20-game inaugural season this weekend at the Navy Open in Annapolis, MD. They will be playing five games across Saturday and Sunday, including a game against the host on Sunday at noon.
McKendree University hired
Gregg Emde as head coach of both the men's and women's water polo teams. Emde joins the McKendree family after holding the same position at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., where he led the men's team to a College Water Polo Association (CWPA) national championship in 2014. Emde brings more than 20 years of playing and coaching experience to the pool for the Bearcats.
Joining Emde as a graduate assistant coach is
Colleen Lischwe, who played NCAA Division I water polo at Marist College, where she was named an Academic All-American following the 2008 season. Recently Colleen served as assistant varsity coach at Kirkwood High School for four years before taking over as head coach in 2014. In addition to coaching high school, she acted as the Midwest Zone Women's Cadet Coach for six years through USA Water Polo's Olympic Development Program and coached both women and men for SLAP (Saint Louis Area Polo) club team in St. Louis.
The Bearcats are a young team and will be looking to get big contributions from players such as
Luc Gregory (Laguna Beach, CA/Laguna Beach High School) and
Robert Esson (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach High School). Gregory was an integral part of Laguna Beach High School's CIF championship teams in 2015 & 2016 and looks to be a key piece moving forward with McKendree. Esson was also a big part of his team's success, winning the CIF Sunset League championships with Huntington Beach High School in 2014 & 2015 and a Junior Olympic silver medal.
On the other side of the ball, McKendree will look to
Alex Nicholas (Rolling Meadows, IL/Fremd High School),
Marko Vucetic (Belgrade, Serbia/Redstar Academy),
Arthur Larson (St. Louis, MO/Saint Louis University High School), and
Anthony Murat (Chicago, IL/Buffalo Grove High School). Nicholas is a utility player with a great work ethic who was All-Conference, All-Sectional, team MVP, and a two-time Junior Olympic qualifier. Vucetic, Larson, and Murat will all be getting time in goal to showcase their skills and shut down opposing teams. Vucetic is a native of Serbia, and has won a gold medal in the Serbian Cup as well as a silver medal in the Belgrade Cup. St. Louis native
Arthur Larson (St. Louis, MO/Saint Louis University High School) was First Team All-State, First Team All-Conference, and on the Junior Olympic team. Murat, from Chicago, was an All-Conference player for Buffalo Grove High School where he rang up the saves in record fashion his senior year.
"Team unity, hard work, and constant improvement will be a few of our goals for this season," said coach Emde. "We are a young team so through our hard work and experience, this team is going to improve very quickly."
McKendree will play two home matches this season on September 30
th at 7 pm and 8 pm, played at Chuck Fruit Aquatics Center in Edwardsville, IL.
