2021 Michigan Water Polo Awards and Honors
4/15/2021 2:34:00 PM | Water Polo
• Six Wolverines Earn CoSIDA Academic All-America Honors (8/6/21)
• Program-Record 18 Wolverines Receive ACWPC All-Academic Awards (7/27/21)
• Six Wolverines Named to CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team (7/8/21)
• Four Wolverines Receive ACWPC All-America Recognition (6/3/21)
• O'Reilly, Leonardi Headline Postseason CWPA Awards (4/28/21)
Erin Neustrom; Heidi Ritner, Sophie Jackson, Alex Brown; Kata Utassy (April 26)
CWPA Player of the Week -- Junior Erin Neustrom was named Player of the Week for the first time this season, tallying six goals in the Wolverines' two wins en route to the CWPA title on Saturday (April 24). She posted a three-goal hat trick in the semifinals against Mount St. Mary's, and followed up with another hat trick in the final against Bucknell to go along with a pair of assists. In the final, she scored or contributed to five goals, equal to the number Bucknell scored as a team. » CWPA Release
CWPA Defensive Co-Player of the Week -- The goalkeeping trio of Heidi Ritner, Sophie Jackson and Alex Brown shared Defensive Player of the Week honors after winning the CWPA title last Saturday. The three combined for a shutout of Mount St. Mary's in the semifinals and held Bucknell to five goals in the final. » CWPA Release
CWPA Rookie of the Week -- Freshman Kata Utassy was named Rookie of the Week for the third time this season after helping Michigan win the CWPA title. Utassy assisted on three goals and recorded four steals between the two contests last Saturday. » CWPA Release
Maddie O'Reilly, Libby Alsemgeest, Dr. Marcelo Leonardi, Sofie Pontré, Heidi Ritner, Erin Neustrom, Emily Ritner (April 24)
CWPA Championship All-Tournament Team -- Maddie O'Reilly was named the Most Valuable Player, Libby Alsemgeest earned Rookie of the Tournament and Coach of the Tournament went to Dr. Marcelo Leonardi for a sweep of the major awards by Michigan. O'Reilly, Sofie Pontré and Heidi Ritner were named to first team All-Tournament, and Erin Neustrom and Emiy Ritner were second-team selections.
Sofie Pontré, Heidi Ritner, Kata Utassy (April 14)
CWPA Player of the Week -- Senior Sofie Pontré was named Player of the Week for the first time this season, after playing a key role in two victories over No. 13 Pacific early in the week, including a goal, an assist and four steals. She followed that up by tallying four goals in two Michigan victories over the weekend against Bucknell and Saint Francis. She recorded a hat trick in the contest against Bucknell. » CWPA Release
CWPA Defensive Player of the Week -- Graduate student Heidi Ritner was named Defensive Player of the Week for a third time this season, leading a defense that twice stopped No. 13 Pacific, and held Bucknell and Saint Francis to a combined nine goals in two games, compared to 36 for the Wolverines. Against Pacific, she posted 22 saves and she recorded 18 saves and three steals in the weekend series against Bucknell and Saint Francis. She even chipped in a cross-pool goal against Bucknell. » CWPA Release
CWPA Rookie of the Week -- Freshman Kata Utassy was named Rookie of the Week for the second time this season after exploding for eight goals between two victories over Bucknell and Saint Francis, to go along with three assists. She posted three goals in a victory over Bucknell, and followed that with a five-goal outburst in the Saint Francis win, in which she also tallied three assists. She also recorded a pair of steals between the two games. Earlier in the week, she added a goal, an assist and three steals in a pair of Michigan wins over No. 13 Pacific. » CWPA Release
Maddie O'Reilly, Sofie Pontré, Libby Alsemgeest (March 30)
CWPA Player of the Week -- Senior Maddie O'Reilly was named Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time after tallying 10 points (four goals, six assists) in Michigan's doubleheader sweep over Salem last Saturday. She also had two drawn exclusions and one steal. » CWPA Release
CWPA Defensive Player of the Week -- Senior Sofie Pontré was Defensive Player of the Week, helping limit a Salem offense to just seven goals. On offense, she had two goals (on three shots) and three steals. » CWPA Release
CWPA Rookie of the Week -- Freshman Libby Alsemgeest was Rookie of the Week for the third time, filling up the stat sheet with two goals, one assist, one drawn exclusion and two steals. » CWPA Release
Maddie O'Reilly, Alex Brown, Libby Alsemgeest (March 24)
CWPA Player of the Week -- Senior Maddie O'Reilly was named Offensive Player of the Week after scoring a total of 10 goals in Michigan's four CWPA wins last weekend. » CWPA Release
CWPA Defensive Player of the Week -- Sophomore Alex Brown was named Defensive Player of the Week. She split time across the four games with junior Sophie Jackson, logging 11 saves and conceding only five goals in 64 minutes. » CWPA Release
CWPA Rookie of the Week Freshman -- Libby Alsemgeest was named CWPA Rookie of the Week, matching O'Reilly with 10 goals. » CWPA Release
Emily Ritner (March 16)
CWPA Defensive Player of the Week -- Senior Emily Ritner was named CWPA Defensive Player of the Week after helping headline a fantastic performance in Sunday's 10-3 win at No. 13 Indiana. In that game, Michigan held the Hoosiers to just one goal after the opening 5:04. Offensively, she scored three goals (on three shots) and tallied an assist over the two games in Bloomington. Junior Erin Neustrom and freshman Kata Utassy were named to the CWPA Honor Roll for Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively. » CWPA Release
Anne Rankin (March 10)
CWPA Player of the Week -- Sophomore Anne Rankin was named CWPA Player of the Week after racking up six points in Michigan's three-game series at San Diego State last weekend (March 6-7). She scored five points in the team's 11-10 win over the Aztecs on Saturday, including four goals. Graduate student Heidi Ritner and freshman Libby Alsemgeest were named to the CWPA Honor Roll for Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week, respectively. » CWPA Release
Maddie O'Reilly, Heidi Ritner, Kata Utassy (March 3)
CWPA Player of the Week -- Senior Maddie O'Reilly was named CWPA Player of the Week after notching 10 points (six goals, four assists) last weekend in four games against No. 4 Arizona State and No. 1 USC. The team's leading scorer, O'Reilly also chipped in two steals, three field blocks and went 5-3 on sprints. » CWPA Release
CWPA Defensive Player of the Week -- Graduate student Heidi Ritner was named CWPA Defensive Player of the Week. She started three of four matches last weekend, making 27 saves and tallying 10 steals. » CWPA Release
CWPA Rookie of the Week -- Freshman Kata Utassy was named CWPA Rookie of the Week. For the weekend, Utassy came off the bench to score five goals -- including her first career hat trick against No. 1 USC on Sunday (Feb. 28) -- along with one assist and two steals. » CWPA Release
Maddie O'Reilly, Heidi Ritner, Libby Alsemgeest (Feb. 23)
CWPA Player of the Week -- Senior Maddie O'Reilly was named Collegiate Water Polo Association Player of the Week after tallying nine points (four goals, five assists) in the team's four wins at the Michigan Invitational last weekend. Her four goals came on just eight attempts, while also tying for a team-high with seven steals. » CWPA Release
CWPA Defensive Player of the Week -- Graduate student Heidi Ritner was named CWPA Defensive Player of the Week. She was in net for both wins against No. 13 Indiana, making 14 saves across the two contests. Ritner also recorded two assists and five steals. » CWPA Release
CWPA Rookie of the Week -- Freshman Libby Alsemgeest was named CWPA Rookie of the Week. In her collegiate debut, Alsemgeest played in all four games, tying for the team lead in goals (five; recorded on eight attempts). She also drew a team-best five exclusions. » CWPA Release
