Weekly Release #1
2/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
Friday, Feb. 9 -- at Villanova in Princeton Invitational (Villanova, Pa.), 8:15 p.m.
Sat-Sun., Feb. 10-11 -- at Princeton Invitational (Princeton, N.J.)
Sat-Sun., Feb. 17-18 -- host Michigan Invitational (Canham Natatorium)
What's Ahead for the Wolverines
The University of Michigan women's water polo team splashes off its inaugural season as a varsity sport at the Princeton Invitational on Feb. 9-11 in Villanova, Pa., and Princeton, N.J. The match on Feb. 9 against Villanova will take place at the Villanova Swimming Center, while the remainder of the Invitational will be held at Denunzio Pool.
U-M's Schedule at the Princeton Invitational
| Friday, Feb. 9 | at Villanova | 8:15 p.m. |
| Saturday, Feb. 10 | vs. Massachusetts | 1:20 p.m. |
| | vs. Hartwick | 6:15 p.m. |
| Sunday, Feb. 11 | vs. Hawaii | 10:00 a.m. |
| | at Princeton | 2:00 p.m. |
Scouting the Opponents
Villanova -- Villanova finished second at the Mid-Atlantic Championships in 2000 and fourth at the Eastern Championships, just missing a trip the national championship ... In its three years as a varsity sport, the Wildcats have a record of 52-33 ... Villanova on the web: www.villanova.com.
Massachusetts -- The Minutewomen finished their 2000 campaign with a record of 31-8 and finished fifth out of the 16 teams that competed at the national championships ... They are looking at capturing their third Eastern Championships title in the past four years ... Massachusetts on the web: www.umassathletics.com.
Hartwick -- Hartwick College is making its varsity-level water polo debut this season, under the direction of Michael Maroney ... It was the 40th school to adopt a varsity level team, thereby allowing the NCAA to sanction a championship ... Hartwick on the web: www.hartwick.edu.
Hawaii -- The Wahine finished the 2000 season with a 22-15 record ... Hawaii finished as the ninth-ranked team in the nation ... Returning for the squad is senior Lisa DeRossi, who tallied 59 goals last season, including 16 in a four-game span ... Hawaii on the web: uhathletics.hawaii.edu.
Princeton -- Princeton was ranked eighth in the nation in the final 2000 season poll ... Only losing one player to graduation and bringing in a strong group of freshmen, the Tigers look to expand on the school's best finish ... Princeton on the web: www.goprincetontigers.com.
Water Polo Gains Varsity Status
On March 26, 1999, the University of Michigan Board in Control of Intercollegiate Athletics announced that women's water polo would become the 13th women's varsity sport at the University. Along with men's soccer, which made its varsity debut during the 2000 fall season, women's water polo moved up from club status. In the final season as a club team, the Wolverines finished with a 30-5 record.
The Big Two of the Big Ten
Michigan is one of only two schools in the Big Ten Conference which have a varsity-level water polo team. Indiana University has held a varsity team since 1998.
Meet the Head Coach
Prior to coming to Michigan, Amber Drury-Pinto was the head coach of the Long Beach City College women's water polo program as well as an assistant coach for the men's team. Drury-Pinto spent the 1997-98 season as an assistant coach with the San Diego State University women's water polo team. In addition to her collegiate coaching experience, Drury-Pinto was the head assistant coach with the United States Women's National Water Polo Team (1994-98) where she was responsible for training and preparing elite athletes for international competition.
She was a member of the Women's Senior National Team at the age of 14 and played in over 30 international tournaments and competed in more than 200 international games. Drury-Pinto was twice selected as the United States Water Polo Player of the Year (1991 and 1994), and competed on both the 1990 and 1994 World Championship teams.
As an assistant coach and player on the varsity women's water polo team at Pomona-Pitzer College (1992-94), Drury-Pinto won back-to-back NCAA Division III Player of the Year honors after leading her team to consecutive national titles (1993 and 1994).
A Medal-Winning Assistant
Former Southern Cal standout and goaltender of the silver medal-winning 2000 U.S. Olympic water polo team, Bernice Orwig was named as the assistant water polo coach on July 25, 2000.
Orwig spent the 2000 season as a women's water polo assistant coach at her alma mater, helping the Trojans to a 23-9 overall mark and a runner-up finish at the national championships. Orwig also has served as an assistant coach at Mater Dei High School (1994-95) and Foothill High School (1996) in California and served as the head women's coach and assistant men's coach for the SoCal Water Polo Club (1995-97).
A three-year letterwinner (1997-99) and goaltender at USC, she was selected as the team MVP in each of her three seasons and was honored as the National College Player of the Year in 1999. She led USC to the 1999 national championship game, earning tournament MVP and best goalie of the tournament honors.
The First Captains
The Wolverines announced their selection of captains for the 2001 campaign. Seniors Christy Lilley (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) and Melissa Karjala (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS), along with junior Delia Sonda (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS) will lead the Wolverines in their inaugural season.
Former "Clubbers"
Eleven members of the water polo team played at least one year on the U-M club team. These players racked up the honors during their club days. Included in this list are two rookies of the year, four All-Big Ten First Team members, six Academic All-Americans and one two-time team MVP.
| Amanda Hagedorn | Junior | Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS |
| Melissa Karjala | Senior | Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS |
| Sara Kowal | Junior | Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS |
| Christy Lilley | Senior | Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS |
| Stephanie Morse | Sophomore | Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS |
| Monica Paz | Sophomore | Santa Monica, Calif./Harvard Westlake HS |
| Emily Pelino | Sophomore | Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS |
| Abigail Rowe | Sophomore | Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS |
| Victoria Santucci | Senior | East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing HS |
| Maribeth Sitkowski | Junior | Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep HS |
| Delia Sonda | Junior | Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron HS |
Preseason Scrimmages
The Wolverines competed in two preseason scrimmages against the club teams of Michigan State and Miami (Ohio) on Jan. 27 in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan defeated both the Spartans and RedHawks by scores of 7-1 and 15-3, respectively. Michigan received four goals from Stephanie Morse (Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS) and three goals from both Rachel Burkons (Van Nuys, Calif./Harvard Westlake HS) and Julie Nisbet (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS).
Canham Natatorium -- Home of Wolverine Water Polo
All home games for the women's water polo team will take place at 1,200-seat Canham Natatorium on the U-M athletic campus.
Coming Up ...
The Wolverines will make their inaugural home season debut in two weeks when they host Michigan State, Indiana, Stanford, Slippery Rock and Miami (Ohio) at the Michigan Invite (Feb. 17-18).
Contact: Valerie Perkin (734) 763-4423
