Weekly Release #7
4/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Sat-Sun., April 6-7 -- at Southern Division Tournament (Bloomington, Ind.)
April 6 -- vs. Mercyhurst (9 a.m.), vs. Gannon (2 p.m.), at Indiana (7 p.m.) April 7 -- vs. Grove City, noon EST/CDT
Sat-Sun., April 19-21 -- at Southern Division Championships (Villanova, Pa.)
What's Ahead for the Wolverines
Two weeks after splitting two games at the Indiana Invitational (March 23-24), the No. 13-ranked Michigan women's water polo team (13-11, 13-1 CWPA) will return to Bloomington, Ind., on April 6-7 for the second Southern Division Tournament of the season. The Maize and Blue will face Mercyhurst at 9 a.m. on Saturday (April 6) in the first match of a tripleheader. U-M will return to the pool at 2 p.m. to play Gannon and will finish the day against host Indiana at 7 p.m. On Sunday (April 7) the Wolverines will have a rematch with Grove City at noon EST/CDT to finish the regular season. The results of this weekend will determine Michigan's seeding for the upcoming Southern Division Championships on April 19-21 in Villanova, Pa. The Wolverines are 4-0 in divisional play and have the ability to clinch the No. 1 seed this weekend.
Scouting the Opponents
Mercyhurst -- The Lakers hold a 1-3 (0-3 CWPA) record thus far in the season. This will be the first-ever meeting between Michigan and Mercyhurst.
Gannnon -- Gannon has compiled a 4-2 (4-2 CWPA) record this season. The Wolverines handed the Lady Knights a 15-5 loss last season at the Southern Division Tournament on March 4 in Erie, Pa.
Indiana -- No. 16 Indiana will host the second Southern Division Tournament of the season. Michigan and Indiana have met twice this season. The Wolverines prevailed in both meetings, with a 10-9 decision at the Michigan Invitational on Jan. 27 at Canham Natatorium and a 9-7 overtime victory at the Indiana Invitational on March 23. The Maize and Blue has posted an undefeated record (6-0-1) against the Hoosiers all-time.
Grove City -- Michigan's match against Grove City will mark the second time the teams have met this season. In their previous meeting, the Wolverines defeated Grove City 19-3 on March 9 in Grove City, Pa. Michigan has never lost to the Lady Wolverines, holding a 4-0 all-time series advantage. Grove City has posted a 1-6 (1-6 CWPA) record so far this season.
Michigan Splits Games at Indiana Invitational
No. 15 Princeton proved to be too potent offensively for the Wolverines to handle as they handed U-M its only conference loss of the season and snapped Michigan's seven-game winning streak in a 17-16 shootout on March 23 at the Indiana Invitational in Bloomington, Ind. Michigan found itself down 10-7 early in the third period but stormed back to tie the game at 16 with 1:37 left to play. The Tigers prevailed, however, as they were able to tally the final goal of the game and earn the 17-16 win. Sheetal Narsai (Commerce, Calif./Bell Gardens HS) led the Wolverines with her first career hat trick and two assists in the game.
In the Maize and Blue's second game of the day, Michigan was matched against division rival Indiana. The Hoosiers led 7-6 with only 53 seconds to play when Julie Nisbet (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) scored her only goal of the game to send the contest into overtime. Erin Brown (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) scored her third goal of the game in the extra session and Jen Crisman (Hudsonville, Mich./Jenison HS) added the other overtime score to give Michigan a 9-7 victory. Freshman goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) recorded two saves in the overtime period to shut out the Hoosiers and break Michigan's single-game record for blocks in a game with 16 saves.
Where Is The Defense
Michigan and Princeton combined to score 33 goals in the Tigers' 17-16 victory at the Indiana Invitational on March 23 in Bloomington, Ind. The total set a Michigan record for combined goals in a game. The previous high was 26 goals when the Wolverines defeated Bucknell 20-6 on Feb. 17 in Princeton, N.J.
On The Verge
Three Michigan freshmen are on the verge of breaking a number of single-season records for the Wolverines. Casey Kerney (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park HS) is one goal shy of the 33-goal mark set by Julie Nisbet last season. Sheetal Narsai has totaled 16 assists on the year and needs just one more to tie the single-season record of 17 posted by Melissa Karjala last year. Betsey Armstrong needs just six blocks in this weekend's play to surpass Camille Clarendon's 174 saves recorded last year.
Armstrong Breaks Single-Game Blocks Record
Betsey Armstrong broke Michigan's single-game record with 16 blocks in Michigan's 9-7 overtime win against Indiana on March 23 in Bloomington, Ind. The previous record of 14 blocks was shared by Armstrong (vs. Princeton on 3/2/02) and Camille Clarendon (vs. Indiana on 4/29/01).
Narsai Records First Career Hat Trick
Sheetal Narsai posted her first hat trick as a Wolverine in a 17-16 loss against Princeton on March 23 in Bloomington, Ind. The freshman also recorded two assists in the contest. She now ranks fifth among Wolverines in scoring with 14 goals.
Crisman Four-Game Scoring Streak
Jen Crisman has scored at least once in four straight games. The streak started against Penn State-Behrend on March 10 with her first career hat trick. Crisman has scored seven goals during the four-game span and now has 17 goals on the season to rank fourth on the team.
Collegiate Water Polo Association National Top 20 (3/27/02)
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 7 8. San Diego State 66 8 9. Hawaii 57 T9 10. Cal-Santa Barbara 56 T9 11. Cal-Davis 52 11 12. Cal-San Diego 45 12 13. MICHIGAN 37 13 14. Hartwick 35 14 15. Princeton 32 T15 16. Indiana 23 T15 17. Brown 20 T15 18. Pacific 12 18 Cal-Irvine 12 19 20. California Baptist 8 20
Contact: Paul Dickerson, Matt Trevor (734) 763-4423
