Michigan to Open Season at Fresno State’s Polo-Palooza

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 14-ranked University of Michigan water polo team (0-0) will get its 2025 season underway when it travels to Fresno, Calif., for Polo-Palooza. The Wolverines will take on No. 9 Fresno State at 5 p.m. PST on Friday (Jan. 17) before matching up with No. 18 San Jose State at 1:30 p.m. PST on Saturday (Jan. 18). U-M will close the weekend with an exhibition match against Pacific at 9 a.m. PST on Sunday (Jan. 19).

Notes

• The Wolverines enter the opening weekend ranked 14th in the preseason edition of the CWPA Top 25 poll. After finishing the 2024 CWPA Championship as the runner-up to Princeton, the team is projected to finish second in the conference again.

• U-M returns 16 players who saw game action in 2024, including fifth-year Kasey Umlauf, who brings valuable experience to the Wolverines. She looks to add to both ends of play expanding on her prior 17-point season, in which she totaled 10 goals and seven assists.

• Michigan sophomore Emma Gustafsson aims to build on her impressive offensive performance from last season, when she was ranked as the team's second-leading scorer and earned CWPA Rookie of the Week honors twice. Gustafsson found the back of the net 42 times and dished out 30 assists in her 72-point season.

• Kaia Levenfeld recorded 44 points in the 2024 season and ranks second among returning players. She displayed a solid performance on the offensive side, notching a career-high four goals to help propel U-M to victory over Iona.

• San Diego, Calif., native Lulu Hirschfield bolsters the Wolverines with a wealth of experience, having registered 37 points in 2024 with a career-high five against Saint Francis. Hirschfield's average of 1.23 points per game is the consistency that will propel offensive productivity.

• Michigan welcomes four freshmen to the team who look to make an immediate impact on Team 25. Ari Karampetsou joins the squad with international experience under her belt as she led Team Greece to a silver medal at the 18U World Championship, where she was also named MVP.

• Joining the Wolverines this season is transfer Maiken Pardon, who spent the past three seasons at San Jose State. During her time with the Spartans, Pardon tallied a career total of 60 goals and 25 assists.

• The Maize and Blue adds 2022 alumna Maddie O'Reilly to its staff as an assistant coach. O'Reilly joins the Wolverines after stints competing for two European clubs, winning the 2022-23 French League Championships and the Euro Cup quarterfinals.