Weekly Release #8
3/30/2004 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, April 3 -- at Indiana Invitational (Bloomington, Ind.)
April 3 -- vs. No. 7 Loyola Marymount, 1:15 p.m.
April 3 -- vs. No. 20 Cal State-Northridge, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, April 6 -- vs. U.S. National Team (Canham Natatorium), 7 p.m. (exhibition)
What's Ahead for Michigan
The University of Michigan water polo team (24-7) will wrap up its regular-season schedule with a pair of games against ranked teams at the Indiana Invitational on Saturday (April 3) in Bloomington, Ind. The Wolverines will face No. 7 Loyola Marymount at 1:15 p.m. and then play a match against No. 20 Cal State-Northridge at 6 9.m. Both games will be played at Indiana's Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center. The schedule was revised from it soriginal form that had U-M facing CS Northridge at 10 a.m. and LMU at 6 p.m.
After the Indiana Invitational, U-M will return home for an exhibition game against the U.S. National Team in Canham Natatorium on Tuesday (April 6) at 7 p.m. The Wolverines will also honor their three seniors -- Rachel Burkons (Van Nuys, Calif./Harvard Westlake HS), Julie Nisbet (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) and Stephanie Rupp (Hemet, Calif./Hemet HS) -- in the final regular-season home game of their careers.
Scouting the Opponents
Cal State-Northridge -- The Matadors enter the Indiana Invite ranked No 20 with a 15-8 overall record for third-year head coach Molly Barnes. Chari Christopher leads Northridge with 29 goals this season, and Megan Icanberry has 74 steals in net for the Matadors. Michigan and Cal State-Northridge have never faced each other in the pool. Cal State-Northridge on the Web: www.gomatadors.com.
Loyola Marymount -- The seventh-ranked Lions are 16-4 this year under seventh-year head coach John Loughran. Devon Wright and Stacia Peterson are leading the way with 34 goals apiece. Michigan is 1-5 against Loyola Marymount all-time, with its lone victory coming in a 3-2 affair earlier this season. Loyola Marymount on the Web: www.lmulions.com.
U.S. National Team -- The U.S. National Team will make Ann Arbor its first stop on its College Series Tour in preparation for the 2004 Olympics. The U.S. team will also make stops at Indiana, Bucknell, Princeton, Brown, San Jose State and Cal. The team boasts eight players from the 2000 Olympics silver-medal team and 13 from the 2003 World Championship team. U.S. National Team on the Web: www.usawaterpolo.com.
Michigan Clinches Fourth Straight CWPA Division Title
U-M won five games at the final CWPA Divisional Weekend (March 27-28) to seal its fourth division title and 8-0 conference record in as many years. On Saturday (March 27) at Grove City's College Pool, the Wolverines started the weekend with a 10-5 victory over Gannon at 12:30 p.m., defeated Penn State Behrend 15-4 at 4:15 p.m. and then duplicated that score in a win against Mercyhurst at 8:30 p.m. On the second day of competition at Slippery Rock's Morrow Field House Pool, the Wolverines topped Washington & Jefferson 12-5 at 11 a.m. and then completed its sweep of the conference schedule with a 19-4 win against Salem International at 2 p.m.
U-M was led by a pair of freshmen, Shana Welch (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West HS) and Jamie Brown (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS). Welch scored nine goals over Michigan's five games and added 10 steals and four assists. Brown also had a stellar weekend with seven goals, 11 assists and four steals. Freshman goalkeeper Sharon Warner (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline HS) made 37 saves in goal for the Wolverines, including a career-high 11 against Penn State Behrend and Salem International.
Champions of the West!!!
While the name of the division may have changed, the results are the same. Michigan completed its fourth straight perfect season and with it its fourth regular-season division title. Starting this season, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) expanded to four divisions: Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western. Now, instead of competing in the Southern Division, the Wolverines contend for the Western Division crown. Also making the move to the new Western Division were a number of Michigan's opponents from the old Allegheny Region of the Southern Division. Gannon, Grove City, Indiana, Mercyhurst, Penn State Behrend, Salem International, Slippery Rock and Washington & Jefferson all joined U-M in the Western Division this season. The Wolverines will look to claim their third straight Division Championship crown when they host the Western Division Championship on April 17-18 at Canham Natatorium.
Tenacious "D"
Tough defense is becoming a trademark of the Wolverines. This season Michigan has held opponents to 4.84 goals per game with the goalkeepers posting 345 saves in 31 games, good for an 11.13 average. The defense is also doing its job, posting 299 steals and 46 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
At the CWPA Divisional Weekend (March 27-28), the Wolverines completed their fourth straight 8-0 conference season and won their fourth regular-season division title. All-time, Michigan is 32-0 in regular-season conference games.
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Against Washington & Jefferson, the Wolverines posted 21 steals to fall just one steal shy of the school record. No small part of U-M's defensive effort was the five steals by both Shana Welch and Sheetal Narsai (Commerce, Calif./Bell Gardens HS). Both Wolverines tied the Michigan record for steals in a game. The record was set by Narsai last season against UC Davis (Feb. 8).
Fillin' Some BIG Shoes
With starting goalkeeper Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) out due to illness, freshman Sharon Warner filled in well, making 37 saves over Michigan's five games. This season, Warner has made 76 saves, has .598 save percentage and is allowing just over five goals per game.
Making a Point
Freshman Jamie Brown entered the CWPA Divisional Weekend with 18 points this season on eight goals and 10 assists. Brown doubled that total this weekend with 18 more points on seven goals and 11 helpers. Her best performance came against Salem International (March 28) when she scored five goals and added three assists to fall just one point shy of a school record. Through 16 games this season, Brown has 36 points on 15 goals and 21 assists.
Sharing the Love
With nine assists at the CWPA Division Weekend (March 20-21), Erin Brown (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) became the only Wolverine to top 30 assists in a season. Brown entered the weekend with 25 dimes, tied with fellow junior Sheetal Narsai for the season record. Both accomplished the feat as freshmen in 2002. With 34 assists so far this season and at least eight games left on the schedule, Brown has an excellent chance to reach the 40-assist mark this season.
Clearance on Hats in Aisle Seven
Six different Wolverines scored a total of seven hat tricks over U-M's five games at the CWPA Division Weekend (March 27-28). Meg Knudtsen (Los Altos, Calif./St. Francis HS) started the barrage with her first hat trick of the season and the second of her career against Gannon (March 27). Shana Welch kept the scoring going with four goals against Mercyhurst (March 27) and another four against Washington & Jefferson (March 28). Welch now has eight hat tricks in her career. Michigan saved the best for last with four hat tricks against Salem International (March 28). Jamie Brown and Jenna Green (Atherton, Calif./Menlo HS) scored the first hat tricks of their careers with five and four goals, respectively. Also accomplishing the feat were Kristin Hoogenboom (Portland, Ore./Sunset HS) and Clare Peyrebrune (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita HS) with their second career hat tricks.
Collegiate Water Polo National Top 20 Poll (3/24/04)
Rank, School Points Last 1. Southern Cal 100 1 2. Stanford 95 2 3. UCLA 90 3 4. San Diego State 85 5 5. Long Beach State 80 4 6. Hawaii 74 6 7. Loyola Marymount 69 9 8. MICHIGAN 66 8 9. California 61 7 10. UC Santa Barbara 55 10 11. Indiana 50 12 12. San Jose State 47 11 13. UC Davis 40 13 14. UC San Diego 34 14 15. Hartwick 30 15 16. UC Irvine 24 16 17. Princeton 21 17 18. Arizona State 18 18 19. Cal Baptist 9 19 20. Cal State-Northridge 5 NR
Contact: Paul Dickerson (734) 763-4423
