Season Review: 2016 Michigan Water Polo
5/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
May 27, 2016
• Team Captains: Kelly Martin, Emily Sejna, Ali Thomason
• Record: 30-8 overall, 7-0 CWPA (1st place)
• CWPA Championship: Champions (W, 9-5 vs. Indiana)
• NCAA Tournament: Third-Place Game (L, 5-4 vs. UCLA)
The 2016 season marked the 16th year of Michigan water polo, coinciding with the 150th year of Michigan Athletics. Team 16 recorded its highest finish in program history, finishing fourth overall at the NCAA Championship. It was the team's sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2010. U-M advanced after it captured its sixth CWPA championship, topping Indiana 9-2 in the championship game for the largest margin of victory in finals history.
The Wolverines ended the year with a 30-8 record, including an undefeated 7-0 mark in conference play during the regular season. It was the sixth 30-win season for the Wolverines. The final ranking of No. 4 is the highest ranking Michigan has ever had. The team was ranked in the top five for seven different polls during the year.
Team Highlights
• Junior Allison Skaggs scored with a four seconds left to give No. 4 Michigan a 5-4 victory over No. 6 Arizona State in the NCAA quarterfinals. The win sent the Wolverines to the semifinals for the first time in school history, a historic milestone for the program.
• Senior goalkeeper Julia Campbell made a season-high 13 saves and allowed only two goals while freshman Kim Johnson netted a hat trick to give Michigan its sixth CWPA championship and first since 2010. The fifth-ranked Wolverines trumped No. 14 Indiana, 9-2, in the championship game after beating Princeton 9-8 in the semifinals.
• Michigan, ranked No. 7 at the time, upset No. 3 Cal by a count of 7-5 to make the fifth-place game at the UCI Invitational on Feb. 28. U-M earned its second win over a top five team in program history after winning just one of the previous 58 matchups against top five teams. The Wolverines stopped the Golden Bears on all six of their 6-on-5 chances outside of a penalty shot and had eight field blocks in a stalwart defensive effort. Senior Kelly Martin and Skaggs each scored two goals while sophomore Caroline Anderson had four assists.
• U-M followed the Cal victory with an unbelievable finish to beat No. 9 UC Irvine for fifth place, the highest finish ever for Michigan at the high-level tournament. The Wolverines missed a shot with seconds to go but junior Heidi Moreland charged at the goalkeeper and forced an errant pass that landed in front of junior Danielle Johnson for the game-tying goal with one second on the clock. The game went to sudden death overtime, where Michigan drew a power play and Anderson found Moreland inside for the game-winning goal.
• At the Stanford Invitational, freshman Kim Johnson scored the game-winning goal with five seconds left against No. 8 San Jose State for an 8-7 victory that set up a matchup between U-M and UC-Irvine for third place. The Wolverines held the Anteaters scoreless for 30:15 before giving up two goals in the final two minutes. A 6-2 win gave U-M its highest finish at the Stanford Invitational.
Individual Highlights
• Senior Ali Thomason broke the single-season goals record at Michigan with 94 goals in her final year. She topped Shana Welch's total of 84 from 2005, a record that stood for 11 years. Thomason topped her previous season best of 58 by 36 goals and recorded the most points in her career with 119, the second-most in school history. A neuroscience major from San Rafael, California, Thomason finished her career ranked in the top five for goals (3rd, 209), points (4th, 307) and steals (3rd, 210).
• Senior Julia Campbell made the most of her final year at U-M, landing a job as a marketing rep with Milwaukee Tool and setting a single-season wins record with 29 victories as a starter. Over her career she ended up with 47 wins to rank fourth all-time. She also finished in the top five in saves (4th, 478) and goals against average (5th, 6.77).
• Sophomore Caroline Anderson continued her stellar Michigan career. She broke her own single-season assists record with 71 in her second campaign. The total was 15 more than the record she set as a freshman. Through two years she has 127 career assists to already rank fifth all-time. She has back-to-back seasons with 100 or more points, becoming just the second player to do so.
• Freshman Kim Johnson burst on to the college scene and broke Michigan's freshman goals record with 62 goals. She had seven more than Welch put up in 2004. Johnson finished the year with 85 points to rank third most as a freshman.
Honors and Awards
Caroline
Anderson
Julia
Campbell
Danielle
Johnson
Kim
Johnson
Allison
Skaggs
Ali
Thomason
National
NCAA Elite 90 Award: Danielle Johnson
CoSIDA Academic All-District: Ali Thomason
NCAA All-Tournament: Ali Thomason (first team), Kim Johnson (second team)
CWPA Conference Awards
Player of the Year: Ali Thomason
Rookie of the Year: Kim Johnson
CWPA All-Conference
First Team: Ali Thomason
Ssecond Team: Caroline Anderson, Julia Campbell, Kim Johnson, Allison Skaggs
CWPA Tournament
MVP: Ali Thomason
Rookie: Kim Johnson
Doc Hunkler Coach of the Tournament: Dr. Marcelo Leonardi
CWPA All-Tournament
First Team: Kim Johnson, Ali Thomason
Second Team: Danielle Johnson
CWPA Player of the Week
Ali Thomason (Jan. 26, Feb. 4, April 7, May 3)
Caroline Anderson (March 3)
CWPA Defensive Player of the Week
Julia Campbell (Jan. 26, Feb. 4, April 14)
Ali Thomason (March 3)
CWPA Rookie of the Week
Kim Johnson (Jan. 26, Feb. 10, March 3, April 7, April 14, April 20, May 3)
Michigan Team Awards
Rookie of the Year for top freshman academically and athletically: Kim Johnson
Most Valuable Offensive Player: Ali Thomason
Most Valuable Defensive Player: Danielle Johnson
Coaches Award: Kelly Martin
Wolverine Award: Heidi Moreland
Maize & Blue Award: Julia Campbell
Most Improved Player: Julia Sellers
Rookie of the Year: Kim Johnson
Strength & Conditioning Award: Ali Thomason
Communications Contact: Ben Blevins
