Michigan
UC Santa Barbara
Michigan to Head to West Coast for Triton Invitational
1/30/2024 4:11:00 PM | Water Polo
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- After an undefeated weekend at home, the No. 11-ranked University of Michigan water polo team (4-3, 1-0 CWPA) will head back to the Pacific time zone for the second time in three weeks, this time to take part in the three day (Feb. 2-4) Triton Invitational in La Jolla, Calif. The Wolverines will open the three-day tournament with a matchup against No. 12-ranked UC Santa Barbara on Friday (Feb. 2) at 8 a.m. PST. The Wolverines' remaining opponents will be determined by the outcomes in other games in the tournament.
Notes
• U-M wrapped up a successful weekend hosting the Wolverine Invitational on Sunday (Jan. 28), going 4-0 against No. 22 LIU, Marist, Saint Francis (Pa.) and Salem over the two-day event. Three of those four wins were by 10 goals or more, and Michigan scored first in all four contests.
• Freshman attacker Emma Gustafsson made her presence felt at Canham, scoring nine goals and chipping three assists in four games. The Greenwich, Conn., native's best performance of the weekend came in the final game against Salem, putting four past the keeper and assisting on another score to help secure a dominant 20-3 win over the Tigers.
• The anchor of the Wolverine offense, Kata Utassy, turned in another string of solid performances over the weekend, scoring two goals or more in three games and dishing out three assists. She was efficient, scoring on just over 87 percent of her shot attempts in the four wins.
• The reigning CWPA Defensive Player of the Week, Alex Brown, put together four strong starts at the Wolverine Invitational, racking up 33 saves and stopping over 70 percent of the shots she faced. For the season, Brown has totaled 64 saves and crossed the 700-save threshold over the weekend, becoming the third player in program history to reach that milestone.
• Libby Alsemgeest has been a force in the middle of the pool for the Maize and Blue, tallying 11 goals and two assists in 2024. True to form, she continues to give the Wolverines an edge by drawing exclusions, having drawn 28 ejections in just seven games.
• A core piece in the starting unit, Sammi Monroe ranks second on the team with 15 points (10 goals, five assists). Monroe scored four goals at the Wolverine Invitational, including a crucial penalty score in the fourth quarter against No. 22 LIU to put the game out of reach.
• Four freshmen, Kaia Levenfeld, Emilia Mladjan, Jillian Schlom and Jordan Schneider tallied their first career goal and assist during the undefeated weekend at the Wolverine Invitational.
• Friday will mark the 21st all-time meeting between Michigan and UC Santa Barbara, and both teams have been ranked in every matchup. Michigan leads the series 13-7, with all the wins against the Gauchos coming consecutively.
• The result of Friday's opener will determine the time and opponent of Michigan's next contest on Saturday (Feb. 3). With a win against UC Santa Barbara, Michigan would play at 9:20 a.m. PST; a loss would send U-M to the first game of the day at 8 a.m. PST.
