Slippery Rock University Athletics

Highlights: U.S. Collegiate National Champions, Eastern Collegiate Champions, won five other tournaments that year, including the Eastern Tournament, University of Toronto Invite, SRU Tournament and the Southern Championships.
 
2025 marked the 30th anniversary of the 1995 women's water polo team that went on a dominant run to claim the 1995 U.S. National Championship, becoming the first team from outside the state of California to win a women's national title.
 
The 1995 squad, coached by USA Water Polo Hall of Fame inductee Richard "Doc" Hunkler, posted a 25-3 overall record on the way to winning the national title. The Rock took down Harvard, UCLA, UC Davis and San Diego State on the way to winning the title in dramatic fashion. SRU lost to San Diego State 10-6 earlier in the tournament before bouncing back to defeat the Aztecs 8-7 in the championship game, becoming the first team in women's water polo history to reach the championship match after losing once in the prelims.
 
Slippery Rock also claimed the Eastern Collegiate Championships title that year after going 5-0 in the tournament with wins over Harvard, Bucknell, Maryland and Wesleyan.
 
The Rock took down numerous Division I programs that year, including Penn State, Michigan, Villanova and Princeton, in addition to the teams they defeated in the Eastern Collegiate Championships and the U.S. National Championships.
 
The squad was led by first team All-Americans Robbie Larson, Tracy Proietti and Jennifer Barr with Larson being named the National Player of the Year and the MVP of the U.S. National Championships. Hunkler was also named the National Coach of the Year. Both Hunkler and Larson would go on to be inducted into the Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame.
 
The 1995 Slippery Rock team remains the only women's collegiate water polo team from outside the state of California to win the U.S. National Championship. Every other team champion since the first championships in 1984 has come from the state of California.
 
1994-95 Water Polo Roster
Kira Baccari
Jennifer Barr
Alicia Best
Tammy Breunig
Brittany Casanave
Jonda Draucker
Jessica Eyre
Maria Guerra
Alexis Hayes
Jennifer Kasper
Robbie Larson
Tracy Proietti
Joan Saieva
Eleanor Schano
Kristen Spremullo
Pascale Stevens
Marnie Urso
Vanessa Wasik
Head Coach: Doc Hunkler