Michigan
Fresno State
Michigan Heads Out on Three-Game Road Trip to Northern California
3/12/2019 5:07:00 PM | Water Polo
THIS WEEK
Friday, Mar. 15 -- at No. 13 Fresno State (Fresno, Calif.), 2:30 p.m. PDT
Saturday, Mar. 16 -- at No. 7 Pacific (Stockton, Calif.), 1 p.m. PDT
Sunday, Mar. 17 -- at No. 4 California (Berkeley, Calif.), noon PDT
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 6 University of Michigan water polo team will venture into unfamiliar territory this week as they play three road games, two of which are in locations the Wolverines have not played at before.
U-M will start its three-game road swing at No. 13 Fresno State on Friday (March 15) in Fresno, California, and then will visit No. 7 Pacific on Saturday (March 16) in Stockton, California, both cities and venues the team has never visited. The Wolverines will close out the weekend on Sunday (March 17) when they play at No. 4 Cal for just the second time in the program's 19 seasons. Â
Team 19
• Michigan is 12 -7 on the season and ranked No. 6 in the country.
• The Wolverines have played one of the toughest schedules in the country with five wins over top-10 teams and of their seven losses, five have come against teams ranked in the top three of the polls.
• Under head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi, the Wolverines are 121-46 (.725) overall as the head coach at Michigan.
• Senior Julia Sellers scored 13 goals in four games the last time Michigan was in action, leading to her first CWPA Player of the Week honor of the season. She leads the team with 29 goals.
• Freshman Abby Andrews has been named CWPA Rookie of the Week four times this season. She leads the squad with 32 assists, 57 points, 24 steals, eight field blocks and 24 sprints won.  Â
• Junior Heidi Ritner has started all 19 games at goalkeeper for U-M. She has 119 saves on the season and had her best weekend at home last time out with 27 saves and 19 goals allowed in four games.
Last Time Out
• Michigan went 4-0 with four victories over ranked teams at the Wolverine Invitational (March 2-3). The wins came over then-No. 6 Pacific, No. 13 Fresno State, No. 14 UC San Diego and No. 15 Long Beach State.
• U-M experienced an offensive surge with 57 goals in the four games, 36 of which came on Sunday, March 3.
• The Wolverines held two teams to five goals on the weekend.
• Michigan's bench played well with 24 goals over the weekend. Sophomore Maddie O'Reilly (eight) and junior Skyler Pyle (seven) scored 15 of the 24 goals off the bench.
• Freshmen Sidney Vranesh and Rylee Brower made their collegiate debuts in the game against No. 14 UC San Diego.
Opponents
• This will be the first time in school history that the Wolverines have visited either Fresno State or Pacific and just the second time playing Cal at Berkeley. U-M lost to Cal, 14-7, on the road in 2013.
• No. 4 Cal is 11-3 on the season and 5-0 at home. The Golden Bears lead the all-time series with Michigan, 10-1, with the only U-M win coming at the Irvine Invitational in 2016 under Leonardi.
• Michigan has faced No. 7 Pacific three times this season, winning twice. The last meeting was an 11-5 U-M win in Ann Arbor on March 2. The series is tied at 5-5. The Tigers are 5-6 on the year.
• The Wolverines will face Fresno State for the third time this year, winning the first two games, 11-6 and 20-8, respectively. The Bulldogs are 7-9 overall.
Milestone Watch
• Ritner is tied for second in Michigan history with 639 career saves. She trails only Betsey Armstrong (1,267).
• Junior Maddy Steere is three goals shy of 150 in her career. She is four assists shy of Sharayah Hernandez for ninth in career assists and is 10 points shy of Sheetal Narsai for ninth in career points. Steere is expected to play in her 100th career game at Cal.
• Senior Kim Johnson is looking to climb up the career charts. She is three goals shy of fifth, five goals shy of fourth and six goals shy of third on the career list. She is two assists shy of seventh and five from sixth place.
• Sellers is nine goals away from 200 in her career and nine assists from 100. She needs three won sprints to reach 100 in that category.
Senior Day
• On Saturday, March 23 Michigan hosts Indiana on Senior Day at Canham Natatorium, where the Wolverines will honor its senior class, Delaney Cleveland, Kim Johnson and Julia Sellers. The game will start at 10:30 a.m. and will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.
• Admission to all U-M home games is free of charge.
