Michigan
Brown
End of Finals Week Means Prep for Championship-Weekend Test
4/25/2018 6:10:00 PM | Water Polo
THIS WEEK
Friday, April 27 -- vs. Brown (Lewisburg, Pa.)
Stream | Kinney Natatorium
Saturday, April 28 – vs. Hartwick or George Washington (Lewisburg, Pa.), noon or 3 p.m.
Sunday, April 29 – vs. TBA (Lewisburg, Pa.), TBA
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Final exams can be stressful for student-athletes in season, but the University of Michigan water polo team has used the break from classes to its advantage.
With classes ending last Tuesday, April 17, Michigan was able to adjust its practice schedule to a later start. The team has started at 9 or 9:30 a.m. each day, almost two hours later than normal. It has given the Wolverines a chance to prepare as normal in the pool but on added rest. The rest and extra time without classes has also allowed them more time to focus on final exams, papers and projects.
"Having finals week gives them that light at the end of the tunnel," said head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi. "We have been able to juggle our practice slots and I thought they have done a great job of juggling finals and practice. Now that they are finishing, I see a sense of relief and fulfillment."
Leonardi pushed the team hard the week after the regular season ended to build the team's fitness back up. Heading in to this week they have started to pay more attention to detail and fine tune things.
"At this point, instead of prepping for four to five games in a weekend, we prep for one game, one day," said Leonardi. "We have done more with film and video analysis and are taking our simulations one step further, focusing on intricate details of personnel and tactical body position."
The team enters the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship as the No. 2 seed and will play No. 7 seed Brown in the quarterfinals on Friday at 1:30 p.m. The Wolverines were the No. 1 seed each of the last two years.
"We are really excited to hit the water, play that first game and take it day by day," said junior Julia Sellers. "We have been talking with the coaches a lot about playing with consistency and with a chip on our shoulders."
The team brings a lot of experience back from its previous two CWPA Championship teams, but also has a mix of new faces to the postseason, including two starting freshmen. This week, the team's quote of the week has been, "Trust your preparation and everything you have done to get to this point. Your consistency will allow you to perform at a high level."
Leonardi feels his team has put in the work from the start of the season and just needs to rely on everything it has done to get it to this point.
"It isn't that all of a sudden one person has to play out of their mind or we have to unveil this brand new play," said Leonardi. "We have been doing it week in and week out. We know what is ahead of us and we feel like we have done our job up until this point."
