Wolverines Set for NCAA Tournament, No. 3 UCLA

THIS WEEK
Fri-Sun., May 10-12 -- NCAA Tournament (Palo Alto, Calif.)
Tickets | Bracket
Friday, May 10 -- vs. No. 3 UCLA, 5:15 p.m. PDT
TV: NCAA.com | Live Stats | Live Video
Saturday, May 11 -- vs. TBD (Semifinals), 5 p.m. PDT (if advance)
TV: NCAA.com | Live Stats | Live Video
Sunday, May 12 -- vs. TBD (Final), 3 p.m. PDT (if advance)
TV: NCAA.com | Live Stats | Live Video

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PALO ALTO, Calif. -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan water polo team will make its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance this Friday when it faces No. 3 UCLA at 5:15 p.m. PDT at Avery Aquatic Center.

Wolverines in the NCAA Tournament

• Michigan will make its fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and ninth overall.
• The Wolverines are the No. 6 seed and will be matched against No. 3 seed UCLA. The Bruins own a 22-0 all-time record against Michigan, including two wins this season (9-7 on Jan. 20; 15-5 on Feb. 23).
• U-M is 6-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament with its last win coming in 2016 when the Wolverines defeated Arizona State, 5-4, to reach the NCAA Semifinals before finishing fourth in the nation.
• The NCAA Tournament went to a single-elimination format in 2017. U-M has lost in the quarterfinals each of the last two seasons against No. 3 USC in 2017 and No. 3 Cal in 2018.
• Head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi will be making his fourth appearance in five years with the Wolverines and owns a 1-4 record in the tournament.
• U-M has a 4-7 record against teams in the 2019 NCAA Tournament with three wins against No. 7 Pacific and one over No. 14 UC San Diego.

CWPA Champions

• Michigan won its fourth consecutive CWPA Championship with a 10-6 victory over No. 15 Princeton on April 29.
• For the first time in program history, the Wolverines have won four consecutive conference titles and their ninth overall.
• Senior Julia Sellers was named CWPA Tournament MVP after scoring three goals in both the semifinal and championship games.
• Freshman Abby Andrews was selected Rookie of the Tournament with five goals, eight assists and eight steals in the two games.
• Sellers, Andrews, junior Maddy Steere and junior Heidi Ritner were all named to the CWPA All-Tournament first team.
• Sophomore Kathy Rogers made a huge impact off the bench in the title game with two steals and four field blocks to go with a pair of goals.

Team 19

• Michigan is 23-8 overall on the season and is on a nine-game win streak.
• U-M has 19 wins over ranked opponents this season, including six wins over top-10 teams. Six of Michigan's eight losses were to teams ranked in the top four.
• The Wolverines are averaging 11.4 goals per game this season and have three players with more than 50 goals and six with 30 goals or more.
• The Michigan defense has held teams to 7.6 goals per game, including 10 teams scoring five goals or fewer and only six scoring in double digits.
• Maddy Steere is the 2019 CWPA Player of the Year, ranking second on the team with 95 points and 42 assists.
• Abby Andrews leads the team with a freshman-record 70 assists and 126 points. She is tied for second on the U-M single-season points list and is third in single-season assists. She was named the 2019 CWPA Rookie of the Year.
• Julia Sellers is an All-CWPA second team selection and leads the team with 63 goals. She was the CWPA Tournament MVP for the second straight year.
• Ritner is an All-CWPA first team choice in goal. She has started all 31 games and has 199 saves for a 7.52 goals-against average and .495 save percentage.

Eye on Record Lists

• Abby Andrews already owns freshman records for assists (70) and points (126) in a season. She is two assists shy of second most in program history and five points shy of the school record of 131 held by Carolline Anderson.
• Sellers leads the team with 63 goals, one shy of a top-10 performance. She is three goals away from a tie for ninth and one away from 10th.
• Senior Kim Johnson and Maddy Steere are tied with 125 career assists, five shy of a tie for fourth on the all-time list.
• Steere is five points away from seventh on the career list at Michigan.
• Johnson has 62 drawn exclusions this season, ranking third in program history. She is two shy of passing Leah Robertson for third most and is three away from a tie for second most in a career.

Milestone Watch

• Heidi Ritner is one save away from her third consecutive 200-save season. Only Betsey Armstrong has achieved that at Michigan. She is 79:17 shy of reaching 3,000 minutes played in her career.
• Maddy Steere is five points away from becoming just the second Wolverine with 100 points in three consecutive seasons.
• Abby Andrews is one of only four players to record 50 goals and 50 assists in the same season, joining Kim Johnson (2017), Caroline Anderson (2015) and Alison Mantel (2010).