Michigan Welcomes Five Teams for Wolverine Invitational

THIS WEEK
Saturday, Mar. 3 -- vs. No. 19 Cal State Northridge (Canham Natatorium), 9:10 a.m.
Saturday, Mar. 3 -- vs. No. 17 Long Beach State (Canham Natatorium), 5:25 p.m.
Saturday, Mar. 3 -- vs. Azusa Pacific (Canham Natatorium), 7:45 p.m.
Sunday, Mar. 4 -- vs. Bucknell (Canham Natatorium), 9:40 a.m.
Sunday, Mar. 4 -- vs. Iona (Canham Natatorium), 11 a.m.

• Game Day Information: Canham Natatorium | Tournament Central
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

The No. 9 University of Michigan water polo team will host five schools in Ann Arbor for the Wolverine Invitational Friday-Sunday in Canham Natatorium. U-M will welcome Azusa Pacific, Bucknell, No. 19 CSUN, Iona and No. 17 Long Beach State to town.

THINGS TO KNOW
• The Wolverines are 10-7 on the year. All seven losses have come by four goals or fewer with three coming by one goal. Michigan has won by an average of 4.6 goals per game in its 10 victories.
• The offense has been spread around with seven different players recording 10 goals or more. Sophomore Maddy Steere leads the team with 30 goals while juniors Kim Johnson (26) and Julia Sellers (21) are also averaging more than one goal per game.
• The U-M defense has allowed only two opponents to score in double figures, with Cal netting 11 goals and Pacific, 10. Six of U-M's opponents have been held to five goals or fewer. The team has 186 steals for 10.9 per game as well as 51 field blocks to go with 125 saves. If you include the field blocks the team has stopped just under 60 percent of opposing team's shots on goal.
• U-M is 16-4 in Canham Natatorium under head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi. The Wolverines beat Indiana in overtime, 13-12, his first season, then went 9-1 in 2016 and finished 4-1 in 2017. This year Michigan is 2-2 at Canham with seven more home games remaining.
• Leonardi is now 87-37 (.702) as the Michigan coach, including a 23-1 (.958) record in the Collegiate Water Polo Association.
• Michigan is ranked tied for No. 8 in the USA Water Polo National Collegiate Rankings and is No. 9 in the CWPA Women's Varsity Top 25.
• The Wolverines have played against ranked teams in all 17 of its games so far. They have faced four top-five teams and seven top-10 opponents.
• Two freshmen leading Michigan in shooting percentage for players with 10 or more shots on the year. Kathy Rogers leads the way with a .474 shooting percentage with nine goals on 19 shots. Maddie O'Reilly is a lefty shooting .407 with 11 goals on 27 shots.
• Steere is 9-for-9 on penalty shots taken this year. She is U-M's go-to player when it comes to converting from five meters.
• Michigan has used five different players on the sprint this season, with three primarily handling the duties. Sellers has done the sprint the most times, winning 13 of her 33 sprints. U-M's fastest swimmer, Rogers, is 16-5 on the year. Freshman Maddy Johnston won all seven of her sprints last weekend to give her eight straight wins. She is 9-2 on sprints this year.
• Steere is six points shy of reaching 150 for her career. Senior Caroline Anderson is 24 away from breaking Shana Welch's school record of 394. Johnson needs just three goals to reach 150 in her career and is one drawn exclusion shy of 100.

VISITING TEAMS
• No. 17 Long Beach State is 3-8 on the season after starting its season Feb. 3. The Beach won its last two games of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational after it fell to Michigan, 8-6. U-M trails the all-time series, 5-11, but has won three straight.
• No. 19 CSUN is 8-8 on the year. The Matadors lost to Michigan at the UCSB Winter Invite on Jan. 20 by the score of 14-5. It was the fourth straight win in the series for U-M as they now own a 9-1 record in 10 meetings.
• Bucknell is receiving votes in the polls with a 6-4 record. The Bison and Wolverines are both in the CWPA but will meet in a non-conference matchup. U-M has never lost to Bucknell with a 19-0 record against them.
• Azusa Pacific is receiving votes but will be Michigan's first unranked opponent of 2018. It marks just the second meeting all-time. U-M won the first in 2014, 14-8. The Cougars are 8-4 on the year.
• Iona is also unranked with a 2-13 overall record. This will be the first time Leonardi has led Michigan against the Gaels, but the Wolverines are 6-0 all-time with the last meeting coming in 2014.