Weekly Release #3
2/20/2001 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Thursday, Feb. 22 -- at Loyola Marymount (Los Angeles, Calif.), 3 p.m. PST
Sat-Sun., Feb. 24-25 -- at Cal-Santa Barbara Invitational (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
What's Ahead for the Wolverines
The No. 9-ranked University of Michigan water polo team (4-3-1) will head west to begin a week-long trek through California, taking on some of the nation's top teams. First up on Michigan's road trip is a meeting with No. 15 Loyola Marymount on Thursday (Feb. 22) at the Burns Recreation Center Pool in Los Angeles, followed by the Gaucho Invitational at host California-Santa Barbara on Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 24-25).
Michigan opens the Gaucho Invitational against No. 3 Southern Cal on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. at the Rec Center Pool and will face either No. 5 San Jose State or No. 11 California-San Diego -- the other two teams in the four-team "B" bracket -- in the second round on Saturday. Each team will play twice on Sunday, with the top eight places decided at the Campus Pool, and places 9-16 contested at the Rec Center Pool.
Others teams in the Gaucho Invitational include: "A" bracket -- No. 2 UCLA, No. 17 Princeton, No. 8 California-Santa Barbara, California-Irvine; "C" bracket -- No. 1 Stanford, No. 7 Long Beach State, No. 10 California-Davis, Hartwick; "D" bracket -- No. 4 California, No. 14 San Diego State, No. 15 Loyola Marymount and No. 18 Pacific. Cal-Santa Barbara on the Web: www.ucsbgauchos.com.
Scouting the Opponents
Loyola Marymount -- Loyola Marymount University defeated San Diego State University on Feb. 17 in its first game of the 2001 season ... The Lions held San Diego scoreless for 14 minutes of play ... LMU is led by junior Lucy Windes, who scored three goals in the 6-4 victory ... The Lions are ranked 15th in the nation ... They finished the 2000 season 18-16 and ranked No. 13 in the national polls ... Loyola Marymount on the Web: www.lmulions.com.
Southern Cal -- No. 3-ranked Southern Cal will enter this weekend's game with an impressive 6-0 record ... The Trojans have scored in double digits in all but one of their victories ... Their leading scorer is Sofia Konoukh, who has amassed 14 goals this season, including five in one game ... They have outscored their opponents 67-28 ... USC is the alma mater of Michigan assistant coach Bernice Orwig ... Southern Cal on the Web: www.usctrojans.com.
Michigan Makes Splashy Home Debut
The Wolverines made an impressive home debut at Canham Natatorium during the first Michigan Invitational on Feb. 17-18. The Wolverines finished the weekend with a 2-2-1 record, easily defeating the Michigan State and Miami (Ohio) club teams, falling twice to top-ranked Stanford and finishing with a tie against No. 15 Indiana.
Michigan Takes Two, Drops One -- In the opening match of the Invite on Feb. 17, the Wolverines quickly defeated Michigan State University 11-3. After a scoreless first period for both teams, Michigan turned up the heat, finding the net six times in the second. The Wolverines added five more goals in the second half, while holding Michigan State to only one goal per period. Senior Christy Lilley (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) led Michigan with three goals.
The Wolverines easily defeated Miami (Ohio) 18-4 one hour later. Freshman Julie Nisbet (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) provided four Michigan goals, including three in the first period. Miami penalties proved costly as Michigan scored six power-play goals during the game.
Concluding the evening was a 17-3 loss to Stanford. The Wolverines fell victim to Stanford's strong offense, which outscored its two Saturday opponents 33-4. Michigan did receive goals from freshman Corrie Kenagy (Lake Forsest, Calif./El Toro HS) and juniors Mandi Hagedorn (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) and Delia Sonda (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS).
Michigan Closes Invite with Loss, Tie -- The Wolverines returned to the water on Feb. 18 for a rematch with the top-ranked Stanford. Despite falling 11-3, Michigan received strong goals from freshman Stephanie Rupp (Hemet, Calif./Hemet HS), junior Mandi Hagedorn and senior Melissa Karjala (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) - two on power plays and one at regular strength. The Wolverines' defense also continued to pester Stanford, holding the Cardinal to one of their lowest point totals of the season.
Michigan closed out the Invitational with a 4-4 tie against Indiana. Freshmen Stephanie Rupp, Corrie Kenagy and Julie Nisbet added three goals to the Wolverine tally, but Indiana responded to even up the score heading into the final period. Indiana notched its fourth goal, breaking the deadlock with four minutes left in the game. Nisbet earned her second goal of the game and tied the game up once again on a quick shot just outside of the red zone. After a last-minute Indiana chance hit the crossbar, time expired, closing the game in a tie.
Setting a Milestone
Junior Mandi Hagedorn scored the first goal in the short history of varsity water polo only 56 seconds into the match against Villanova on Feb. 9 at the Princeton Invitational.
Setting a Milestone II
Sophomore Abbi Rowe (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) made history on Feb. 17, netting the first varsity water polo goal at Canham Natatorium. After a scoreless first period for both Michigan and Michigan State, Rowe found the net 41 seconds into the second.
Michigan Firsts
The Wolverines have been making history this season in their inaugural season as the 13th women's varsity sport at the University of Michigan.
First win: Michigan 18, Villanova 6 -- at Princeton Invitational (Feb. 9)
First loss: Hawaii 12, Michigan 6 -- at Princeton Invitational (Feb. 11)
First tie: Michigan 4, Indiana 4 -- at Michigan Invitational (Feb. 18)
First Michigan goal: Mandi Hagedorn -- 0:56 vs. Villanova (Feb. 9)
First opponent goal: Villanova's Carrie Boyle -- 4:33 (Feb. 9)
First home Michigan goal: Abbi Rowe -- 7:41 vs. Michigan State (Feb. 17)
First home opponent goal: Michigan State's Kristen Jonson -- 11:31 (Feb. 17)
First home varsity goal: Mandi Hagedorn -- 3:00 vs. Stanford (Feb. 17)
First home varsity opponent goal: Stanford's Margie Dingeldein -- 0:43 (Feb. 17)
First game at Canham: Michigan vs. Michigan State (Feb. 17)
First varsity game at Canham: Stanford vs. Indiana (Feb. 17)
The First Captains
Seniors Christy Lilley (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) and Melissa Karjala (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS), along with junior Delia Sonda (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) will serve as captains for the Wolverines in their inaugural season.
Crisman Wins Big Ten Swimming Title
Senior driver Jen Crisman (Hudsonville, Mich./Jenison HS), an All-America swimmer who will join the water polo team after the swimming season is over, won her fourth straight Big Ten Conference title in the 100-yard backstroke at the 2001 Big Ten Championships on Feb. 16 in Bloomington, Ind. With her time of 53.99, she became only the eighth swimmer in Big Ten history to win the same event for four consecutive years. Crisman also swam on two winning relay teams while helping U-M to its 13th Big Ten title.
Heading Home
Nine members of the Michigan squad will be going home this week, when the team makes the 2,300-mile journey west. One goalie, three 2-Meters, four drivers and one 2-Meter defender call the state of California home.
| Name | Hometown (High School) |
| Rachel Burkons | Van Nuys, Calif. (Harvard Westlake) |
| Camille Clarendon | Redlands, Calif. (Redlands) |
| Katherine Gregg | Newport, Calif. (Newport Harbor) |
| Megan Hayes | Atherton, Calif. (St. Francis) |
| Chelsea Kay | Laguna Hills, Calif. (Laguna Hills) |
| Corrie Kenagy | Lake Forest, Calif. (El Toro) |
| Julie Nisbet | Santa Barbara, Calif. (Santa Barbara) |
| Monica Paz | Santa Monica, Calif. (Harvard Westlake) |
| Stephanie Rupp | Hemet, Calif. (Hemet) |
Playing In the Backyard
Seven members of the team hail from the Ann Arbor area. Four attended Huron High School and three attended Pioneer High School. Huron graduates include Delia Sonda, Emily Pelino, Mandy Hagedorn and Melissa Karjala, while Pioneer produced Angela Galardi, Abbi Rowe and Christy Lilley.
Six more members of the squad grew up in the state of Michigan. Stephanie Morse and Sara Kowal are natives to Rockford and Jeanine Bolhouse hails from Garndville. Closing out the Michigan link is Torye Santucci (East Lansing), Katie Crichell (Grosse Pointe) and Jen Crisman (Hudsonville).
Rounding Out the Pack
The three remaining members of Michigan's roster come from states other than those of Michigan and California. They are Maribeth Sitkowski (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep HS), Nora Schroeder (Orland Park, Ill./Marian Catholic HS) and Kristen Bloomstrom (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore HS).
Meet the Head Coach
Prior to coming to Michigan, Amber Drury-Pinto was the head coach of the Long Beach City College women's water polo program as well as an assistant coach for the men's team. In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Drury-Pinto was the head assistant coach with the United States Women's National Water Polo Team (1994-98) where she was responsible for training and preparing elite athletes for international competition. She was a member of the Women's Senior National Team at the age of 14 and played in over 30 international tournaments and competed in more than 200 international games. Drury-Pinto was twice selected as the United States Water Polo Player of the Year (1991 and 1994), and competed on both the 1990 and 1994 World Championship teams.
A Medal-Winning Assistant
Former Southern Cal standout and goaltender of the silver medal-winning 2000 U.S. Olympic water polo team, Bernice Orwig was named as the assistant water polo coach on July 25, 2000. Orwig spent the 2000 season as a women's water polo assistant coach at her alma mater, helping the Trojans to a 23-9 overall mark and a runner-up finish at the national championships. A three-year letterwinner (1997-99) and goaltender at USC, she was selected as the team MVP in each of her three seasons and was honored as the National College Player of the Year in 1999. She led USC to the 1999 national championship game, earning tournament MVP and best goalie of the tournament honors.
Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 20 Poll (2/14/01)
Rank, School Points 1. Stanford 98 2. UCLA 94 3. Southern Cal 92 4. California 86 5. San Jose State 72 6. Hawaii 69 7. Long Beach State 68 8. Cal-Santa Barbara 64 9. MICHIGAN 52 10. Cal-Davis 48 11. Cal-San Diego 46 12. Brown 45 13. Massachusetts 41 14. San Diego State 34 15. Loyola Marymount 33 Indiana 33 17. Princeton 31 18. Pacific 12 19. Harvard 11 20. California Baptist 10
Contact: Valerie Perkin (734) 763-4423
