Weekly Release #7
3/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, March 27 -- at CWPA Divisional Weekend (Grove City, Pa.)
March 27 -- vs. Gannon, 12:30 p.m.
March 27 -- vs. Penn State-Behrend, 4:15 p.m.
March 27 -- vs. Mercyhurst, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 28 -- at CWPA Divisional Weekend (Slippery Rock, Pa.)
March 28 -- vs. Washington & Jefferson, 11 a.m.
March 28 -- vs. Salem International, 2 p.m.
Saturday, April 3 -- at Indiana Invite (Bloomington, Ind.)
What's Ahead for Michigan
The Wolverines (19-7) will make finish their conference season at the CWPA Divisional Weekend in Grove City, Pa., on Saturday (March 21) and Slippery Rock, Pa., on Sunday (March 28). U-M will start the weekend with a match against Gannon (12:30 p.m.) on Saturday and then finish the first day of competition with games against Penn State-Behrend (4:15 p.m.) and Mercyhurst (8:30 p.m.). On Sunday the Wolverines will face Washington & Jefferson (11 a.m.) and then wrap up the conference schedule with a match against Salem International (2 p.m.). Saturday's matches will be played at Grove City's College and Recreation Pool while Sunday's games will take place at Slippery Rock's Morrow Fieldhouse Pool.
Scouting the Opponents
Gannon -- The Golden Knights are 10-1 this season, including a 3-0 mark in CWPA Western Division play under third-year head coach Don Sherman. Gannon is led by Katherine Bucceri with 16 goals and goalkeeper Tara Skasik, who had posted 93 saves this season. Gannon has been very strong defensively this season with only 30 goals allowed through 11 games this year. The Wolverines have never lost to Gannon, posting a 3-0 record against the Golden Knights all-time. Gannon on the Web: www.gannon.edu/sports/default.asp.
Penn State Behrend -- The Lions are 1-11 this season under first-year head coach Joe Tristan. U-M is 4-0 is all-time against Penn State Behrend, with its morst recent victory coming in an 11-4 affair during last season's CWPA Divisional Weekend (March 9, 2003). Penn State Behrend on the Web: www.pserie.psu.edu/athletics/athletics.htm.
Mercyhurst -- Mercyhurst is 6-4 this season under second-year head coach Chris Robinette. Ann Markley leads the Lakers with 38 goals this season and Christina Pantoja has made 74 saves in net. Michigan is 2-0 against Mercyhurst all-time. Marcyhurst on the Web: www.mercyhurst.edu/Athletics/at.asp.
Washington & Jefferson -- The Presidents are 4-3 this season under first-year head coach Bob Filander. The Wolverines are 4-0 against Washington & Jefferson all-time with their most recent victory coming in a 16-4 affair during last season's CWPA Divisional Weekend (March 30, 2003). Washington & Jefferson on the Web: www.washjeff.edu/athletics.html.
Salem International -- Salem International is in its second year as a program. Keith Bullion is in his second season at the helm of the SIU program. The only meeting between Michigan and SIU came last season (April 11) during the Southern Division Championship and resulted in a 19-2 victory for the Wolverines. Salem International on the Web: www.salemiu.edu/athletics.
U-M Makes a Clean Sweep at the Pomona Tournament
The Wolverines won all four of their matches at the Pomona Tournament (March 20-21) to boost their overall record to 19-7. On Saturday (March 20), Michigan earned a 12-5 victory over Wagner in the first game of the tournament and defeated No. 19 Cal Baptist 6-3 in the afternoon session. On day two of the tournament, the Maize and Blue topped Santa Clara 8-3 and earned a 9-2 victory against host school Pomona-Pitzer. Against both the Lancers and the Sagehens, the Wolverines jumped out to a 6-0 lead early in the second half.
Shana Welch (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West HS) led the Maize and Blue with 13 goals over the four games, including four against both Wagner and Santa Clara. Erin Brown (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) also had a stellar weekend with five goals, four assists and four steals. Goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) posted 10 or more saves in three of U-M's four games, totaling 51 saves on the weekend.
Champions of the West
Starting this season, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) has expanded to four divisions: Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western. Now, instead of competing in the Southern Division, the Wolverines will contend for the Western Division crown. Also making the move to the new Western Division are a number of Michigan's opponents from the old Allegheny Region of the Southern Division. Gannon, Grove City, Indiana, Mercyhurst, Penn State Behrend, Salem Internatinal, Slippery Rock and Washington & Jefferson will all join U-M in the Western Division this season.
Tenacious "D"
Tough defense is becoming a trademark of the Wolverines. This season Michigan has held opponents to 4.92 goals per game with the goalkeepers posting 308 saves in 26 games good for a 11.85 average. The defense is also doing its job, posting 217 steals and 37 field blocks. Last year U-M had the best defensive year in the program's history, setting a pair of school records with a mere 5.28 goals allowed and 11.41 blocks per game.
The Leaders and the Best
This weekend (March 27-28), the Wolverines will take their 3-0 conference record into the final CWPA Divisional Weekend of the season. With five games on the schedule, Michigan will look to complete its fourth consecutive undefeated conference season. U-M is 27-0 all-time in regular-season conference games.
No Soup For You
With three games with 10 or more saves at the Pomona Tournament (March 20-21), Betsey Armstrong has now achieved the feat 47 times in her career and 15 times this season. Armstrong started the tournament with 13 saves against Wagner and then added 15 more against Cal Baptist and 14 against Pomona-Pitzer. She fell one save shy of stopping 10 or more shots in all four game with nine blocks against Santa Clara. Armstrong, the Wolverines' career leader in blocks, save percentage and goals against average, is averaging 11 blocks per game. If she is able to maintain that pace, she stands an excellent chance to break U-M's season record of 317 saves, which she set as a freshman in 2002.
Explosivo
After scoring 15 goals through the first 22 games of the season, freshman Shana Welch expolded for 13 goals this weekend at the Pomona Tournament (March 20-21). Welch started the tournament with four goals against Wagner, followed by two scores and three steals against Cal Baptist. On the second day of the tournament, the freshman added four more goals against Santa Clara and posted her third hat trick of the season with three markers and three steals against Pomona-Pitzer. With the three hat tricks this weekend, Welch now has six career hat tricks.
Sharing the Love
With four assists at the Pomona Tournament (March 20-21), Erin Brown tied a Michigan record with 25 assists this season. Brown and fellow junior Sheetal Narsai (Commerce, Calif./Bell Gardens HS) both accomplished the feat as freshmen in 2002. With more than 10 games left on Michigan's schedule this season, Brown stands an excellent chance to hold the record alone and become the first Wolverine to hand out 30 assists in a season.
That's A Lot of PT
Senior Stephanie Rupp (Hemet, Calif./Hemet HS) played in all four of Michigan's games at the Pomona Tournament (March 20-21) to become the third Wolverines to amass at least 100 games in her career. Rupp joins fellow seniors Rachel Burkons (Van Nuys, Calif./Harvard Westlake HS) and Julie Nisbet (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) as the only Michigan players to reach the milestone.
Collegiate Water Polo National Top 20 Poll (3/17/04)
Rank, School Points Last 1. Southern Cal 100 1 2. Stanford 95 2 3. UCLA 90 3 4. San Diego State 86 5 5. Long Beach State 80 4 6. Hawaii 74 6 7. California 70 7 8. MICHIGAN 66 8 9. Loyola Marymount 61 9 10. UC Santa Barbara 54 12 11. San Jose State 51 11 12. Indiana 46 12 13. UC Davis 39 13T 14. UC San Diego 34 13T 15. Hartwick 31 15 16. UC Irvine 23 16 17. Princeton 22 19 18. Arizona State 18 17 19. Cal Baptist 9 NR 20. Brown 5 18
Contact: Paul Dickerson (734) 763-4423
