Amanda Zychowski has always been a team player.

Jim Yeamans, the water polo coach at Slippery Rock University, would like to break her of that attitude - sort of.

"She played basketball in high school and was a rebounder and passer," said Yeamans. "It was ingrained in her head not to be a shooter.

"I've been telling her, 'Hey, we need you to shoot more,'" Yeamans added.

The A-C Valley graduate from Emlenton, is a junior defender for The Rock, which hosts the Division II Eastern Regional Saturday and Sunday.

Zychowski has played a pivotal role with the team this season. She's second in scoring with 15 goals and has 14 assists and 24 steals.

Zychowski had three goals and four assists and two steals in an 8-7 loss to Gannon University Tuesday.

This followed a four-goal, one-assist, five-steal performance in a pair of matches against Gannon and Mercyhurst at the Erie Invitational last Saturday, which SRU split.

"I guess the coach has tried to get it in my head to score more," said Zychowski. "I'm more likely to set others up to score. That's how I play.

"I'll see the score sheet after the game and I've seen I have been scoring more," she added.

Last season, Zychowski was fourth on the team with 23 goals. Shannon Holt led the way with 96 goals while Kim Adams added 54 and Erika Brunner had 48.

Brunner leads this year's team with 37 goals, 18 assists and 25 steals. Holt and Adams were seniors last year.

"The coach as well as my teammates say I have the hardest shot on the team," said Zychowski. "Sometimes I pass and I think I psych myself out."

The Rock enters this weekend's regional competition with a 5-13 record. The team opened the season with a win, dropped its next nine matches, but has rebounded. Yeamans has planned a tougher schedule, squaring off against the likes of Princeton and Michigan among others.

"We have such a young team and our coach has done a great job recruiting all over the country," said Zychowski.

"It's hard to pull in all these different players and get them to all play as a team. We're trying to click. It's a slow progression," she added.

For Zychowski, she's still picking up the nuances of the game, having joined the team as a freshman with no experience whatsoever.

"She's just coming into her own," said Yeamans. "Water polo is a skill game and you could see she could become a really good player.

"This year you can see that. She's very strong defensively and, offensively, she's stepped up," Yeamans added.

"I'll always try to adapt something from when I was swimming, playing soccer and softball in Pittsburgh," Zychowski said.

"I have good game sense and awareness. This is one of the hardest sports to play and train for. I'm still picking things up. Things are not automatic yet.

"It's starting to come together, which is good because it helps the team," she added.