Weekly Release #10
4/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Upcoming Schedule
Fri-Sun., April 23-25 -- at Eastern Championship (Lewisburg, Pa.)
April 24 -- vs. Bucknell or Wagner, 9 a.m.
April 24 -- Semifinal Round
April 25 -- Championship Round
What's Ahead for Michigan
The Wolverines (28-8, 8-0) will compete for their second NCAA Final Four bid in three years at the Eastern Championship (April 23-25) hosted by Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. The winner of the Eastern Championship earns the CWPA's automatic bid to the NCAA Final Four, held this season at Stanford on May 8-9. Michigan garnered the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Championship following its 8-0 regular-season conference record and a third consecutive Division Championship title.
After earning a first-round bye, U-M will face either No. 8-seeded Bucknell or No. 9 seed Wagner in the second round on Saturday (April 24) at 9 a.m. The semifinal round will take place later that evening and the championship round is scheduled for Sunday (April 25) afternoon. If the Wolverines can win their first two games, they will play for the berth to the Final Four in the title game at 2:50 p.m. on Sunday. All games will be played at the Arthur D. Kinney Jr. Natatorium.
Eastern Championship Seeding
No. 1 Seed -- Michigan -- 1st at Western Division Championship
No. 2 Seed -- Hartwick -- 1st at Northern Division Championship
No. 3 Seed -- Indiana -- 2nd at Western Division Championship
No. 4 Seed -- Brown -- 1st at Northeastern Division Championship
No. 5 Seed -- Princeton -- 1st at Southen Division Championship
No. 6 Seed -- George Washington -- 2nd at Southern Division Championship
No. 7 Seed -- Iona -- 2nd at Western Division Championship
No. 8 Seed -- Bucknell -- 3rd at Southern Division Championship (at-large selection)
No. 9 Seed -- Wagner -- 3rd at Northern Division Championship (at-large selection)
No. 10 Seed -- Harvard -- 2nd at Northeastern Division Championship
No. 11 Seed -- Gannon -- 3rd at Western Division Championship (at-large selection)
No. 12 Seed -- Villanova -- 4th at Southern Division Championship (at-large selection)
Michigan at the Eastern Championship
The Wolverines are 8-2 all-time at the Eastern Championship, with both losses coming at the hands of Brown University. After losing to the Bears in the first round in 2001, Michigan won all four of its matches in 2002 to win the tournament and a trip to the Final Four. Last season, the Wolverines finished in third place. After falling to Brown 5-4 in the semifinal game, Michigan topped Princeton 9-5 to claim the bronze trophy. Indiana is the defending champion after topping Brown 7-5 in the title game last season.
It's Like You Are at the Game
Michigan's trio of games at the Eastern Championship will feature live scoring updates on U-M's athletics website, MGoBlue.com. The scores of all three games will be updated after each goal and at the end of each period and timeout. This is the first time a Michigan water polo game has featured live web scoring.
Scouting the Opponents
Bucknell -- The Bison earned the No. 8 seed at the Eastern Championship after finishing third at the CWPA Southern Division Championship. Bucknell is 14-16 this season under fifth-year head coach John Zeigler. Michigan is 3-0 against the Bison all-time.Bucknell on the Web: www.bucknellbison.com.
Wagner -- If Michigan faces Wagner in the second round, it will mark the third meeting of the season between the two teams. Michigan has won both meetings, 13-4 and 12-5. Wagner has earned the No. 9 seed at the Eastern Championship by virtue of their third-place finish at the CWPA Northern Division Championship. Overall, the Seahawks are 13-14 under first-year head coach Aaron Cavagnolo, Michigan's assistant coach in 2003. Wagner on the Web: www.wagner.edu/athletics.
Champions of the West! Michigan Claims Division Title
Meg Knudtsen (Los Altos, Mich./St. Francis HS) scored on a power play early in the sudden-victory overtime period to give No. 8 Michigan a 5-4 win over No. 10 Indiana on Sunday (April 18) in the CWPA Western Division Championship title game at Canham Natatorium. It marks the third consecutive season the Wolverines have won a division title. Michigan trailed 4-3 late in the fourth period, but Jo Antonsen (Agoura Hills, Calif./Agoura HS) scored the equalizer with 1:22 on the clock, and the teams were scoreless through the two regular overtime periods.
The Wolverines advanced to the title game by topping both Salem International and Washington & Jefferson on Saturday (April 17). Michigan opened up a 9-0 halftime lead over the Tigers to cruise to a 18-1 victory and then topped the Presidents 19-2 in the semifinal round. Shana Welch (Larksville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West HS) led the charge for the Wolverines with a hat trick in each game, and Antonsen added five more goals through the first two rounds of the tournament.
That's How You Do It ... That's How You Win Games
With three wins in the CWPA Western Division Championship, the Wolverines set a new program best with 28 wins this season. The previous record of 25 victories came in 2002 when Michigan went 25-13 overall en route to a NCAA Final Four berth.
Champions of the West!!!
While the name of the division may have changed, the results are the same. Michigan completed its fourth straight perfect league season, its fourth regular-season division title and its third straight Division Championship 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 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.
Tenacious "D"
Tough defense is becoming a trademark of the Wolverines. This season Michigan has held opponents to 4.69 goals per game with the goalkeepers posting 399 saves in 36 games, good for an 11.08 average. The defense is also doing its job, posting 350 steals and 54 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.
A Little Help
The Wolverines handed out 36 assists at the Division Championship (April 17-18) to boost their season total to a school-record 272 assists this year. The previous record was 234 assists set in 2003.
Shooting for the Record
With six goals on six-for-six shooting through U-M's first two games at the Division Championship, Shana Welch set a Michigan record with her 49th goal of the season. Welch then became the first Wolverine to score 50 goals in a season with a pair of markers against Indiana in the title game (April 18). The previous record was set by Julie Nisbet (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) with 47 goals in 2002.
Queen of the Kick-Out
In her four years at Michigan, Julie Nisbet has led the Wolverines in drawn ejections each year, and at the Division Championship (April 17-18) she became the first Michigan player to surpass the 200-drawn ejection mark. Nisbet drew three ejections over the weekend and now has 202 in her career. In fact, she is the only Michigan player with over 100 drawn ejections; Erin Brown (San Diego, Calif./Bishop's HS) sits second on U-M's career list with 84 kick-outs drawn.
Nisbet also set a new Michigan mark with 57 drawn ejections this season. The senior bested her previous record of 56 drawn kick-outs which she accomplished as a freshman in 2001.
Now Serving No. 42
Erin Brown handed out six assists at the Division Championship (April 17-18) to increase her assist total to a school-record 41 helpers. Brown also tied a career high with four assists against Salem International (April 17). This season, Brown has shattered the old assists record which stood at 25. Both Brown and fellow junior Sheetal Narsai (Commerce, Calif./Bell Gardens HS) set the mark as freshmen in 2002.
Yet Another Great Performance
Betsey Armstrong (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) posted the 50th game of her career with 10 or more saves in the semifinal round of the Division Championship against Washington & Jefferson (April 17). Armstrong made 12 stops against the Presidents, shutting out the opposition in 21 minutes of action. She also recorded the 900th block of her career in the contest. This season, Armstrong has 314 saves, including 18 games with at least 10 stops. She is also giving up a career-low 4.69 goal per game and boasts a career-high .729 save percentage.
Good as Gold
With five steals against Washington & Jefferson (April 17), Melissa Goldberg (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis HS) became the third Wolverine this season to tie the school mark for steals in a game. Sheetal Narsai and Shana Welch each had five steals against the Presidents earlier in the season (March 28). The mark was established by Narsai last season when she posted five swipes against UC Davis (Feb. 8, 2003).
Say It Ain't Jo
Junior Jo Antonsen put together her best tournament of the season at the Division Championship (April 17-18), including her first hat trick of the year against Washington & Jefferson. Antonsen also added two assists and two steals against the Presidents. In U-M's other games, she posted a pair of goals against Salem International (April 17) and had a goal, an assist and a steal in the title game against Indiana (April 18). Over the tournament, Antonsen had six goals, three assists and four steals.
Collegiate Water Polo National Top 20 Poll (4/14/04)
Rank, School Points Last 1. Southern Cal 100 1 2. Stanford 95 2 3. UCLA 91 3 4. Long Beach State 84 4 5. San Diego State 81 5 6. Hawaii 73 6 7. Loyola Marymount 71 7 8. MICHIGAN 65 8T 9. California 62 8T 10. Indiana 54 10 11. San Jose State 52 11 12. UC Davis 44 13 13. Hartwick 36 14 14. UC Santa Barbara 34 12 15. Arizona State 31 15 16. UC Northridge 24 17T 17. UC Irvine 22 16 18. Princeton 15 17T 19. UC San Diego 11 19 20. Brown 8 20
Contact: Paul Dickerson (734) 763-4423
