2007 WPW Western Championships -- Day 1 Notes & Quotes

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Matt Anderson
On reaching the final of the Western Division Championship ... "We accomplished a lot today. We were anticipating tomorrow's matchup, but we still focused enough to do some good things in both games. The players got the opportunities to be successful on some things they were working on, which will hopefully help us in the championship game tomorrow."

On the four-goalie defense played by Slippery Rock ... "In all of my years involved in water polo, I have never seen a defense like that. We scored seven goals in three minutes so I wish every team would run that defense because it allowed us to unload offensively. It was not a defense that worked. It did force us to keep the girls' intensity up even though the other team is doing unconventional things, and we did a great job of staying focused."

U-M Sophomore Julie Hyrne
On scoring six goals against SRU ... "They were running a different defense, running three players in the cage, which left a lot of us wide-open. We are just pumped up for tomorrow so we came in excited to play and to get ready for tomorrow's game."

U-M Senior Wesley Ellison
On scoring seven goals in two games on Senior Day ... "I was pumped up going into today. It has been a difficult four years for me. This is the greatest accomplishment I have had in my life so far. It was really special to have both of my parents here because this is the first game both of them have been at together at Michigan. It was great to have them supporting me. This team is the reason I have stayed here for four years, and I could not ask for a better group of girls to play for."

N O T E S

Seniors Shana Welch and Wesley Ellison were honored in a Senior Day presentation prior the evening game against Slippery Rock.

Wesley Ellison matched a career high with four goals against the Presidents. She also earned four last season at the Western Championship against Penn State-Behrend. Additionally, Ellison reached the 100-point plateau for her career with her four points. She then netted her second straight hat trick with a trio of tallies against Slippery Rock.

Shana Welch netted five goals against the Rock for her program-best 59th career hat trick. Her six points (5 g, 1 a) in that contest give her a program-high 117 (78 g, 39 a) for the season.

Michelle Keeley scored twice to reach 25 goals on the season, surpassing her single-season, career-high goal total of 24 from last season.

Carrie Frost scored four times against W&J to achieve four or more goals in a game for the second time in her career. She netted five at Slippery Rock earlier this season. Frost finished the day with 10 points (5 g, 5 a) to eclipse the 100-point mark for her career and now has 104 career points.

Leah Robertson tallied four points on two goals and two assists against Washington & Jefferson for her highest point total since Feb. 24 against Arizona State, when she earned four (2 g, 2 a).

Goalkeeper Kimberly Gero's career-high 10 blocks bested her previous mark of nine, which she attained on March 16 against Grove City.

Julie Hyrne reached 109 points (77 g, 32 a) for the year today, which moves her into second all-time for the most points in a season at U-M.

Logan Bjorkman notched her first career hat trick against Slippery Rock.