But in that two-meter position, there are risks involved, especially if you're playing tough competition. While playing Stanford in her sophomore year, she took an elbow in the eye in the first two minutes of the game, sidelining her for the rest of the tournament.

"I think sophomore year, I really started to learn the game," Ogilvie says. "When I started out as a freshman, I didn't know what defense and offense were. I was just completely clueless."

And now, she has made the transformation from the raw talent to the polished, experienced hole player.

"Every time I'm in the pool, no matter where I am, I look to score or get an assist," Ogilvie says. "Being in the hole taught me the subtleties of the game."

One thing Ogilvie has that many hole players don't have is deceptive speed which translates well into the Crimson's style of play. And that translated into her best water polo performance, when she scored the game-winning goal in the fourth quarter to lead Harvard to a 7-4 victory over MIT.

"I thought to myself, 'This is the point where I can make a difference,'" Ogilvie says. "I've done it a million times, I've been playing for three years, and I've got to put all these lessons that I know together and have the best game of my life.'"

And she did. With MIT's shot clock winding down towards zero, Ogilvie and Tara Gustilo released their defensive assignments and sprinted down the pool two-on-zero. Ogilvie swam the ball in, and--using Gustilo as a decoy--got Harvard's game-winner.

The tremendous momentum garnered by the Harvard program from that one game has translated into a 12-2 record this season and a possible shot at the national tournament. But first the Crimson must win the Eastern Tournament this weekend. And with teams like Slippery Rock and Bucknell expected to participate, it could be tough.

"I don't think we need to get too overconfident," Ogilvie says. "We need to be realistic about how good Slippery Rock is, and still will be. We'll just have to see."

After school, the East Asian Studies major will probably go to England on a fellowship. Ogilvie had always wanted to go to the Far East. So much for plans.