Weekly Release #6
3/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Saturday, March 23 -- at Indiana Invitational (Bloomington, Ind.)
vs. Princeton (11 a.m.), at Indiana (5 p.m.)
Sat-Sun., April 6-7 -- at Southern Division Tournament (Bloomington, Ind.)
What's Ahead for the Wolverines
Coming off an 11-4 exhibition victory over the Michigan State club team, The No. 13-ranked Michigan women's water polo team (12-10, 12-0 CWPA) will return to the road and head to Bloomington, Ind., to take part in the Indiana Invitational on Saturday (March 23). The Wolverines will play just two games at the tournament, facing No. 15 Princeton at 11 a.m. and division rival No. 17 Indiana at 5 p.m. Both games will be played at the Counsilman and Billingsley Aquatics Center.
Scouting the Opponents
Princeton -- The No. 15-ranked Tigers hold a record of 11-5 (9-1 CWPA). Princeton's only conference loss of the season came at the hands of the Wolverines on March 2 at the Brown Invitational. Michigan won the game by a 9-7 margin thanks to a fourth-quarter comeback. The all-time series favors the Wolverines 3-1, with the only loss coming in the Division Championships last year (April 7) by a score of 11-5.
Indiana -- Indiana, which is ranked No. 17 in the nation, will be playing its first home games of the season as it hosts the Indiana Invitational. In Michigan and Indiana's only other meeting this season the Wolverines prevailed with a 10-9 decision at the Michigan Invitational on Jan. 27 at Canham Natatorium. The Maize and Blue have posted an undefeated record of 5-0-1 against the Hoosiers all-time.
Senior Night Success as U-M Rolls Over Spartans
Michigan returned home on Friday (March 15) to celebrate senior night in an exhibition contest against the Michigan State club team. All five Michigan seniors scored in the contest en route to an 11-4 victory over the Spartans. Maribeth Sitkowski (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep), Sara Kowal (Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS) and Jen Crisman (Hudsonville, Mich./Jenison HS) each had two goals, while Mandi Hagedorn (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) and Delia Sonda (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) had single tallies. Freshman goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) made 10 saves in the contest.
Michigan Perfect Against Regional Foes
Michigan's overall record against teams in the Allegheny Region is 18-0-1 all-time. This season the Wolverines have posted a 6-0 record, with four wins on March 9-10 at the Southern Division Tournament.
U-M on Season-High Seven-Game Winning Streak
With its sweep in divisional play two weekends ago, the Maize and Blue extended its winning streak to seven games. The first win of the streak came against Iona at the Brown Invitational on March 2. Included in the seven victories are wins over No. 15 Princeton (9-7) and No. 17 Brown (6-4 in overtime).
Super Seniors
In their final home game of the season, all five Michigan seniors recorded goals. Co-captains Maribeth Sitkowski and Delia Sonda, along with Jen Crisman, Mandi Hagedorn and Sara Kowal all started and ended the game as a class in the pool.
Collegiate Water Polo Association National Top 20 (3/13/02)
Rank, School Pts. LW 1. Stanford 100 1 2. UCLA 95 2 3. Southern Cal 90 3 4. California 85 4 5. San Jose State 80 5 6. Loyola Marymount 75 6 7. Long Beach State 69 8 8. San Diego State 66 7 9. Hawaii 59 9 10. Cal-Santa Barbara 55 10 Cal-Davis 55 11 12. Cal-San Diego 45 12 13. MICHIGAN 40 13 14. Hartwick 35 14 15. Princeton 29 15 16. Brown 28 17 17. Indiana 18 18 18. Pacific 13 16 19. Massachusetts 10 20 20. Cal-Irvine 7 NR
Contact: Paul Dickerson, Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423
