Jan. 15, 2008

by Jac Coyne, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

Think how hard it would be for women's Division I to keep any kind of consistency if one or two of its Top 20 teams were removed from competition each year. Think about the time and effort it would take to reorganize the conferences and keep them eligible for automatic qualifiers if the administrators were constantly working in a state of revitalization. It would pretty tough to keep a steady organization amidst this type of fluidity, wouldn't you say?

Welcome to the Women's Division Intercollegiate Association (WDIA).

One just has to look back to the spring of 2007 to understand the type of upheaval the division has been facing for the past decade. Navy rolled through its competition to a perfect record before losing to national champion Cal-Poly. Following a script it set in motion a couple of years before, the Midshipmen made the leap to varsity status by joining the ranks of NCAA Division I.

Poof. Just like that, the second-best team in the WDIA was gone.

And this has been happening for a decade. Northwestern, Stanford, Oregon, and Cal-Berkeley, among others, have all been strong teams within the club ranks before making the move the varsity. With the continued popularity of the sport more and more women's club teams will make the move. WDIA staples such as South Carolina (2010), Florida (2010) and Boise State (2012) are already on track to make the leap to NCAA Division I in the near future.

While this trend is certainly good for the growth of the sport, especially in up-and-coming places like the West Coast, it has caused some headaches for the remaining programs that are not only trying to balance their conferences but working to ensure they are eligible for automatic qualifiers under WDIA rules.

"That has really affected our league (Western Women's Lacrosse League) in the North because the way it's working out all of the WDIA teams going varsity are all in Northern California," said Paul Ramsey, the new head coach at UC-Santa Barbara. "We're running out of teams in the North Division and Cal-Poly, which is really a central team, is playing in the North because there are only three other teams up there."

While the eligibility rule did not affect the WWLL, which boasts 23 teams over five divisions, the WDIA rule mandating at least eight certified teams to comprise an automatic qualifying conference can be dicey with the constant shuffling and the occasional administrative forfeits. It's these snags that give the WDIA a hint of disarray, especially in relation to the relative stability of the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association, the men's club equivalent.

This, again, is to the constant movement in the WDIA, according to Southern Cal coach Gabe Valenzuela.

"If you look back to 1997 and the number of club teams and now, you'll notice about 50 of those are now varsity programs, so each year our field changes," said Valenzuela, who has been on the women's club scene since 1994 and puts together the weekly WDIA poll.

"Navy is no longer with us," continued Valenzuela. "Way back when, we had Ohio University go varsity, then dropped varsity and now they're back to club. Northwestern was a club team that went on to become an NCAA championship. The field keeps changing on the women's side but on the men's club side it has remains static for many, many years."

If you find yourself looking at the WDIA results or conference standings, just understand there may be some odd looking numbers. That's what happens when you're in a constant state of flux.

Gaucho Gamers
The most annoying part about the NCAA divisions, D-3 in particular, is when it comes time for tournament Selection Sunday there are always questions about the final field. My displeasure arises from the fact the committee inevitably has to take virtually identical teams, crunch a set of numbers and scour common opponents for the one speck of data that propels one team ahead of another. Due to their regional nature, D-3 men and women don't always have the luxury of head-to-head competition for settling differences

For the most part, the WDIA top dogs take great pains, and travel, to avoid putting their fate in the hands of a committee. Or if they do, the contenders boast a résumé so strong as to avoid leaving any doubt about their viability.

Take UC-Santa Barbara for example. Having the unfortunate luck to be in the same conference as seven-time WDIA champion Cal-Poly, the Gauchos realistically have to plan on being included in the at-large portion of the tournament on a year-to-year basis. As a result, UCSB and their new coach, Paul Ramsey, have ensured that the have the C.V. to earn the bid.

This year, of the 17 games on the Gauchos schedule, 12 of them will be against members of Lacrosse magazine's preseason WDIA Top 20. Since UCSB is ranked number three in the country, just three of the Top 10 teams - Georgia, Pittsburgh and Michigan State - are not on the slate, and all three are well over half a country away.

"While I had that in mind (playing the best), I can't claim that I tried to get 12 of the preseason Top 20 teams on our schedule," admitted Ramsey. "But it's worked out very, very well for us.

"In a perfect world, we'd be playing one through 20."

Hail to the Returners
The University of Michigan may have lost its head coach, Mary Ann Meltzer, to Detroit Mercy and their assistant coach, John Sung, to Adrian, but there is still enough left in the tank for rookie skipper Jen Dunbar. The Wolverines boast the most returning All-Americans from the first and second WDIA teams from last spring.

Junior defender Becca Miller was a first team selection last year while sophomore midfielder Amy Johnson and junior middie Alexis Pavle were tabbed for the second team. Time will tell whether this strong nucleus can compensate for the relative collegiate inexperience of Dunbar, who joins UM after cutting her teeth in the high school ranks.

As for the other returning All-Americans, boasting two apiece are Colorado State (goalie Brooke Lewis and middie Lisa Long), Lindenwood (attacker Jackie Noble and midfielder Kandee Schroeder) and Colorado (defender Allison Bailey and attacker Amy Long).

Navy also returns a couple of WDIA All-Americans in senior first teamer Amanda Towey and sophomore second teamer Erin Rawlick, but, of course, the Midshipmen will be making the leap to NCAA Division I this spring. While it's unlikely the two will reprise the honors at the varsity level, they are worth keeping an eye on as a comparison.

As for the other returning All-Americans, on the first team: junior Katie Wheeler (Pittsburgh); junior Brittany Jones (Cal Poly); Senior Katie Popovich (Michigan St.); and senior Kristyn Gherardi (UCSB). On the second team: senior Rachel Perkins (Chico St.); senior Jenn Stevens (UCF); junior Elaine Kelch (Georgia); and senior Katie Buckler (Georgia Tech).

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Have an idea about a player, coach or team for the WDIA Notebook? Drop Jac Coyne an email.