Michigan
Wagner
Wolverines to Host Michigan Invitational This Weekend
1/22/2020 6:32:00 PM | Water Polo
THIS WEEK
Sat-Sun., Jan 25-26 -- host, Michigan Invitational (Canham Natatorium)
Tournament Central
Saturday, Jan. 25 -- vs. No. 21 Wagner, 9:15 a.m.
Live Stats
Saturday, Jan. 25 -- vs. No. 5 UCLA, 6:15 p.m.
Live Stats
Sunday, Jan. 26 -- vs. No. 11 Pacific, 9:15 a.m.
Live Stats
Sunday, Jan. 26 -- vs. No. 9 UC Santa Barbara, 1:45 p.m.
Live Stats
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan water polo team will host this weekend (Jan. 25-26) the 2020 Michigan Invitational, the first of two home meets this season. The Wolverines will face off against four top-25 teams: on Saturday (Jan. 25), Michigan will take on No. 21 Wagner at 9:15 a.m. and No. 5 UCLA at 6:15 p.m., and on Sunday (Jan. 26) U-M will battle No. 11 Pacific at 9:15 a.m. No. 9 UC Santa Barbara.
Michigan Invitational
• Michigan will host Indiana, Marist, Pacific, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and Wagner at the Michigan Invitational this weekend.
• Over the last five seasons, the Wolverines are 27-4 in Canham Natatorium under head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi with 12 consecutive home victories. Their last loss was to Pacific on Jan. 28, 2018.
Opponents
• No. 21 Wagner opens its season against the Wolverines in the first match of the tournament on Saturday morning. Michigan leads, 7-0, in the all-time series with Wagner. Their last meeting was in 2018 with U-M earning a 10-7 victory.
• No. 5 UCLA enters the weekend at 4-1. The Bruins will take on Pacific before facing off against the Maize and Blue on Saturday night. The Bruins have made it to the NCAA Tournament semifinals in each of the past two seasons. UCLA has won each of its 23 matches against Michigan, including knocking Michigan out of last year's NCAA Tournament, 13-7.
• No. 11 Pacific will tune up with UCLA and Marist before facing off with Michigan on Sunday morning. The Tigers will look to build on last season, when they won the Golden Coast Conference and lost to eventual-champion Stanford in the NCAA Tournament. Pacific enters Canham Natatorium trailing, 6-5, in the all time series against the Wolverines and went 1-3 against the Maize and Blue last season.
• No. 9 UCSB will play Indiana, Marist, and Wagner before they play the Wolverines. The Gauchos enter the weekend at 3-2 after going 22-8 a year ago and winning the Big West Conference tournament third-place match against UC Davis to conclude the year. Michigan has an 11-7 advantage in the all-time series against UCSB, having won the last 11 games -- including a 9-7 victory in Santa Barbara, California, last weekend at the UCSB Winter Invitational.
Last Time Out
• Michigan went 2-2 at the UCSB Winter Invitational with wins over No. 22 Cal State Northridge and No. 11 UCSB, and losses to No. 5 UC Irvine and No. 4 Cal.
• Junior Maddie O'Reilly led the team with 11 points on six goals and five assists.
• Sophomore Ava Morrant was the top goal scorer with seven goals on the weekend, scoring on 50 percent of her attempts. She had her first two career hat tricks.
• Sophomore Erin Neustrom tallied five goals and 13 drawn exclusions.
• Senior goalkeeper Heidi Ritner made 30 saves on the weekend, recording 10 saves and five steals against UCSB.
• Five players made their collegiate debuts: Anne Rankin started all four games and tallied four goals and three assists. Sophie Tovani played in all four with her first career goal coming against Cal. Ella Abbott and Jess Henningsen each made their debuts as well. Sophomore goalkeeper Sophie Jackson made her debut and earned her first collegiate win against CSUN.
The Doctor
• Head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi is 134-50 (.728) at Michigan, including a 36-2 (.947) record in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA). He earned his 100th win at Michigan against No. 13 Indiana last season.
• Leonardi has guided the Wolverines to four straight CWPA titles and NCAA appearances, placing as high as fourth in the NCAA in 2016.
In the Rankings
• U-M is ranked No. 7 in the lastest edition of the CWPA poll released Wednesday (Jan. 22). The Wolverines are on a streak of 24 straight polls in the top-10 and 74 of the last 75 polls.
• Under Leonardi, the team has been ranked in the top 10 74 times and in the top five eight times over the last six seasons.
• Michigan was ranked No. 7 in the preseason top 25.
Records and Milestones
• Heidi Ritner (81 wins) is four shy of tying the school record held by Betsey Armstrong (85).
Up Next
Sat-Sun., Feb. 1-2 -- at Stanford Invitational (Palo Alto, Calif.)
