Season Review: 2020 Michigan Water Polo

Team Captains: Sofie Pontré, Skyler Pyle, Heidi Ritner
Record: 11-8 overall, 0-0 CWPA
CWPA Tournament: Canceled
NCAA Championship: Canceled

The 2020 season marked the 20th year of the University of Michigan water polo program. Team 20 recorded an 11-8 overall record prior to the remainder of the season and postseason being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Team Highlights

• Head coach Dr. Marcelo Leonardi led U-M to a winning record to give the program a winning season in all 20 years of varsity competition.

• The Wolverines racked up a 7-1 record at Canham Natatorium. In six years under Leonardi, U-M has a 35-5 record at home.

• Michigan placed seventh at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational in Irvine, California. The team started the tournament with a double-overtime victory against No. 7 Cal. It was just the second win over the Golden Bears in program history and featured a game-tying goal with three seconds left in regulation to force OT.

• U-M was ranked in the top 10 in all nine polls of the 2020 season to extend its streak of top-10 rankings to 31 consecutive weeks. The team was ranked as high as No. 7 six times, including the final three polls.

• Michigan continued to challenge itself against the nation's best, playing five games against teams ranked in the top five and 10 games against top-10 opponents. Leonardi has matched up his team against a ranked team in 88.7 percent of the team's nonconference games over the last five seasons.

Heidi Ritner

Individual Highlights

• Senior captain Heidi Ritner broke Michigan's career wins record (88), passing Betsey Armstrong's total of 85. Ritner finished the year with an 8-8 record and received honorable mention All-America recognition. She will be returning for a fifth year in 2021.

• Junior Maddie O'Reilly was chosen as the Michigan Athletics Breakthrough Female Athlete of the Year after leading the team in goals (36), assists (34) and points (70). Those numbers exceeded her freshman and sophomore years combined (37 goals, 23 assists, 60 points). In 2020, her 3.68 points per game were the second best single-season total in program history.

• Junior captain Sofie Pontré was named a second team All-American, becoming the fifth first- or second-team honoree in program history. She started all 19 games and was one of the team's best defenders, tallying 21 steals and seven field blocks.

• Sophomore Erin Neustrom was named an All-America honorable mention and was second on the team with 32 goals. She led the team with a .533 shooting percentage and 56 drawn exclusions -- a U-M sophomore record -- to give her 116 for her career to crack the top-10 on the school's all-time list.

• Sophomore Ava Morrant and junior Emily Ritner also had breakout years as first-time starters. Morrant posted 20 goals and 12 assists while Ritner recorded 12 goals and 15 assists.

Honors and Awards

Sofie
Pontré,

Heidi
Ritner

Erin
Neustrom

Maddie
O'Reilly

Ava
Morrant

Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches
All-America (Second Team): Sofie Pontré
All-America (Honorable Mention): Erin Neustrom, Heidi Ritner

National Strength and Condition Association
All-Americans: Maddie O'Reilly, Sofie Pontré

Collegiate Water Polo Association Weekly Honors
Player of the Week: Ava Morrant (Jan. 21), Maddie O'Reilly (Jan. 28), Erin Neustrom (Feb. 25), Maddie O'Reilly (March 3)
Defensive Player of the Week: Heidi Ritner (Jan. 21), Emily Ritner (Jan. 22)
Rookie of the Week: Anne Rankin (Jan. 21), Anne Rankin (Feb. 25), Anne Rankin (March 3)

Academic All-Big Ten
Sophie Jackson, So., Architecture
Ava Morrant, So., Communication and Media
Maddie O'Reilly, Jr., Sport Management
Sofie Pontré, Jr., Philosophy
Skyler Pyle, Sr., Sport Management
Emily Ritner, Jr., Psychology
Heidi Ritner, Sr., Sport Management
Isabelle Rocco, So., Chemical Science
Kathy Rogers, Jr., Public Health
Sidney Vranesh, So., Business Administration