Michigan to Open 2020 Season at UCSB Winter Invite

THIS WEEK

Fri-Sat., Jan. 18-19 -- at UCSB Winter Invitational (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Tournament Central

Saturday, Jan. 18 -- vs. No. 22 CSUN, 8:30 a.m. PST
Live Stats
Saturday, Jan. 18 -- vs. No. 5 UC Irvine, 2 p.m. PST
Live Stats
Sunday, Jan. 19 -- vs. No. 4 California, 8:30 a.m. PST
Live Stats
Sunday, Jan. 19 -- at No. 11 UCSB, 12:15 p.m. PST
Live Stats

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan water polo team will make its 2020 debut this weekend (Fri-Sat., Jan. 18-19) at the UCSB Winter Invitational in Santa Barbara, California. The Wolverines will be facing four top-25 teams at UCSB Campus Pool. On Saturday (Jan. 18), Michigan will face Np. 22 Cal State Northridge at 8:30 a.m. PST and No. 5 UC Irvine at 2 p.m. PST. On Sunday (Jan. 19), the Wolverines will take on No. 4 California at 8:30 a.m. PST and will finish the tournament with a game against host No. 11 UC Santa Barbara at 12:15 p.m. PST.

Team 20

• Michigan is coming off a 2019 season in which it made its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and won a fourth straight CWPA Championship with a 23-9 overall record.
• U-M lost six players from its 2019 squad, including three seniors. Two of those players, Abby Andrews and Maddy Steere are training with the Australia National Team ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
• The leading U-M returner is senior goalkeeper Heidi Ritner. A three-year starter in the cage, Ritner has 105 career starts with an 80-25 record to rank second in school history in wins. She also ranks second in career saves with 722.
• Senior Skyler Pyle is Michigan's top returner in points with 40 a year ago, while sophomore Erin Neustrom's 30 goals in 2019 are the most by a returner.

Opponents

• No. 22 Cal State Northridge will play two games on Friday against Azusa Pacific and No. 2 UCLA to tune up for the Wolverines. The Matadors were 14-19 overall in 2019 with two losses to U-M, (11-5 at UCSB WInter Invitational; 14-5 at the Triton Invitational). Michigan leads, 12-1, in the all-time series against CSUN.
• No. 5 UC Irvine will face No. 4 Cal before taking on Michigan. The Anteaters lost to Hawai'i in the Big West Championship game last year to finish 19-9 overall. UCI leads, 6-5, in the a;;-time series with Michigan with the last six meetings split evenly between the two.
• No. 4 Cal enters the weekend with a 12-6 win over San Jose State under its belt. It will face UC Irvine and UCSB before taking on the Wolverines. Cal lost to USC in overtime in the NCAA semifinals last year to finish 17-9. Michigan's only win over the Golden Bears in 12 meetings came in 2016.
• No. 11 UC Santa Barbara will host UCLA, Iona and Cal before playing the Wolverines. The Gauchos went 22-8 a year ago, winning the Big West Tournament third-place match against UC Davis to conclude the year. Michigan has a 10-7 advantage in the all-time series with UCSB and has won the last 10 meetings.

The Doctor

• Head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi enters his sixth season at Michigan and owns a 132-48 (.733) overall record and a 36-2 (.947) record in the Collegiate Water Polo Association. He earned his 100th win at Michigan against No. 13 Indiana last season.
• Leonardi has guided the Wolverines to four straight CWPA titles and four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, placing as high as fourth at the NCAA Tournament in 2016.
• Under Leonardi, the Wolverines are 27-4 at Canham Natatorium, including 12 straight home wins since a loss to Pacific on Jan. 28, 2018.

Conference Dominance

• The Wolverines were a perfect 6-0 last year in CWPA play to earn their 11th undefeated conference season in the program's 19 years.
• Michigan 36-2 in conference games under Leonardi the past five years, including a 28-1 record in CWPA games over the last four seasons.

Michigan vs. Ranked Opponents

• The Wolverines continue to challenge themselves under Leonardi, having played 140 ranked teams in 180 games over the last five seasons.
• After Leonardi's first season, U-M has played ranked teams in 88.6 percent of its non-conference games (78 of 88).
• Michigan will face four ranked teams this weekend with games against No. 22 Cal State Northridge, No. 5 UC Irvine, No. 4 California and No. 11 UC Santa Barbara.

In the Rankings

• Michigan is ranked No. 7 in the CWPA preseason top 25 poll.
• U-M is on a streak of 23 straight polls and 73 of the last 74 being ranked in the top 10. U-m finished last season ranked No. 6.
• Under Leonardi, the team has been ranked in the top 10 in 73 weeks and the top five eight weeks over the last six seasons.

Records and Milestones

Heidi Ritner (80) is five wins shy of tying the school record held by Betsey Armstrong (85). Ritner also is just under 48 minutes shy reaching 3,000 career minutes played and five steals away from 150.

Home Opener

• Michigan will host the Michigan Invitational next weekend (Jan. 25-26) at Canham Natatorium.
• In addition to the Wolverines, the participating schools will include Indiana, Marist, Pacific, UCLA, UCSB and Wagner along with the Wolverines.
• For more information visit the Michigan Invitational tournament page.
• Admission to all U-M home games is free of charge.