Athletes are like ducks on a pond. Above the surface they're calm, focused on what needs to be done. But underneath it all, their legs battle to stay afloat.

Sometimes comparisons are literal.

The Penn State women's water polo club team muscled its way to a third-place finish at the Collegiate Water Polo Association Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship Tournament, which concluded yesterday at the McCoy Natatorium.

Led by sophomore captains Megan Schmidt and Nicole Woomer, the team went 2-1 in the tournament, losing only to the University of Pennsylvania, the eventual champion, in the semifinals.

A dominating 10-4 first-round win against the University of Richmond on Saturday afternoon set up a Saturday night game against rival Penn.

The much-anticipated game between the two teams was the culmination of a season in which both regular-season games resulted in one-goal losses for Penn State.

This one wasn't as close.

A two-goal halftime lead for Penn quickly turned into a six-goal lead after Penn held Penn State scoreless in the third quarter. Penn continued its controlling play in the fourth quarter, winning the game 11-6.

Woomer was held to just two goals in the contest.

"Some of our shots didn't go where we wanted them to go," said Schmidt, who scored three goals.

The team agreed that everyone put up a tough fight.

"I think we should be proud of the way we played," Sara Fritz said. "The score didn't really reflect how close the game was."

The loss put the women into the third-place match against fourth-seeded James Madison University.

All eyes were on Woomer as she led her team to an 11-9 victory with five goals and three assists. Jenna Reitz also had an excellent offensive game, scoring three goals.

Despite the close score, goalie Kerry Slover had a stellar game in goal. Her key saves early in the contest helped Penn State survive a 4-0 scoring fury by JMU at the end of the game.

Woomer led the team with five goals and three assists, having a hand in each of Penn State's first seven goals.

"[Nicole] played very well," Schmidt said. "She is very aggressive, playing the most aggressive position. She gave it all she had."

Woomer finished the tournament with 10 goals while Schmidt had seven.

"I think we played well," Woomer said. "It was a good end to the season. I'm really excited. This game kind of showed how much everybody's improved. It's really incredible."