Michigan Water Polo: 2010 Western Division Champs

Posted at 8:00am -- 5/8/2010

Mailbag question: Any other receiver to move position?

Mailbag question: Any other receiver to move position?

I would like to start by saying this is the first thing I check every morning. It is fun but challenging to get exciting for Michigan football in the heart of ND land. Keep up the good work. I have two questions:

First a football question: There has been a lot of talk that one position where depth (number of bodies) may not be an issue is at the receiver spot. T. Jones appears to have made the transition from offense to defense fairly easily. Are there any other receivers that could/should make this move to improve defensive depth? It appears that recruiting WR’s is easier for Michigan than S/CB’s. Obviously with how Kelvin has performed, that is not a move you would want to make, but why didn’t Coach Rod push for that at the beginning of camp?

Second question is a general Michigan question: Which 2009-10 Michigan sports team will be considered the best of the year? Also which team will surprise the most people?

I guess my two questions grew into four.

Thanks for your research, opinions, answers, and hard work!

Darin
South Bend, IN

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Thanks for the question and comments.

Michigan does have a good numbers situation at split end, but we think running back has the best depth of any position.

Michigan needs to have adequate numbers at split end because Michigan uses multiple wide receiver sets a large majority of the time.

So, moving another split end is not as easy as it might appear. If any further receivers were moved, Cam Gordon to safety would currently make the most sense, at least in our opinion. That is why every year it is important to recruit team needs as much as good players. There is a need to balance out every other class and compliment each class back to back.

As far as the other Michigan sports, wow, this might be a tougher question that demands more than just providing a shallow, surface-scratching type of answer. That is one of the neat things about following the University of Michigan. It is not just football and basketball that demonstrate excellence. Most Michigan teams are very successful.

The answer requires an analysis of the usual Michigan teams that have demonstrated consistent quality, such as Softball, Hockey, Volleyball, Women’s/Men’s Gymnastics, Men’s Swimming and Diving, Water Polo, and Wrestling.

Softball should be loaded again this year, losing only two players on the roster and returning starting pitchers Nikki Nemitz and Jordan Taylor. They should make another run for the Women’s College World Series under Coach Carol Hutchins. And maybe this year the ladies will repeat what they did in 2005.

The Women’s Gymnastics team missed the NCAA Championships for the first time in the last sixteen years. That snapped the nation's fourth-longest streak of consecutive NCAA Championship appearances. They should be very good again under Coach Beverly Plocki.

Coach Berenson's hockey program is usually at the top of the CCHA and making it to the Frozen Four is almost a mainstay for his program. This will likely be a tougher road this year, but the Wolverines have many young talented players.

We also predict the wrestling team under Coach Joe McFarland will surprise many people, despite losing Steve Luke.

The surprise team, in our opinion, might be the Field Hockey program, which has struggled the last couple of years. But under Marcia Pankratz the program once again will try to bring that magic back and make it into the NCAA championships.

Michigan has many great athletic programs and we apologize for not mentioning them all. This question reinforces the saying “It’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine.”

Thanks for stopping by Go Blue Michigan Wolverine
If you have any questions please E-Mail

Written by CoachBt and ErocWolverine

Michigan Water Polo: USC drop Michigan in NCAA opener:

from MGoBlue.com
http://www.mgoblue.com/water-polo-w/article.aspx?id=137088

Michigan Drops NCAA Opener to No. 2 Southern Cal

May 9, 2008
Site: Palo Alto, Calif. (Avery Aquatic Center)
Event: NCAA Championship (First Round)
Score: #2 Southern Cal 12, #10 Michigan 3
Records: U-M (33-10), USC (20-7)
Next U-M Game: Saturday, May 10 -- vs. Marist at NCAA Championship (Palo Alto, Calif.), 12:30 p.m. PDT

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- The No. 10-ranked University of Michigan water polo could not slow No. 2-ranked Southern Cal in the opening round of the 2008 NCAA Championship, falling 12-3 Friday afternoon (May 9) at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. Despite falling behind by seven goals at the half, the sixth-seeded Wolverines matched the No. 3 seed's two goals in the third quarter and added another tally in the fourth.
Junior Mary Chatigny (Palm Springs, Calif./Palm Springs) scored twice for the Maize and Blue, while sophomore Leah Robertson (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) turned in a four-steal day. Junior Brittany May (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) made five stops in net.

USC jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening frame. The Trojans got their first two markers on hard shots from seven meters into the right corner of the cage, one with an extra attacker, and two more from in close. U-M was not without its chances. Juniors Sharayah Hernandez (Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) and Julie Hyrne (Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) found iron within a minute of each other following the first two USC goals. Freshman Cara Reitz (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) and Chatigny generated shots later in the period, but neither found its way into the back of the cage.

The two teams tightened up in the second period. Michigan tried to chip into the lead with a pair of early breakaways. Freshman Alison Mantel (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) took a pass from Robertson on the move across mid-pool. As she tried to line up her shot, two Trojans caught up and dunked her before the shot could be taken. Freshman Keller Felt (La Jolla, Calif./La Jolla) got a breakaway of her own, streaking down the pool with Mantel toward the cage. Despite the fast break, Felt was caught as well, but drew a power play. On the ensuing advantage, she almost cashed in on her drawn kickout, driving a cross-cage pass off the bar. At 2:17, USC converted on a one-timer to take a 6-0 lead. The Trojans added another goal on a desperation shot from two meters with 54 seconds remaining in the half and took a 7- lead into the break.

The Wolverines got a boost from their keeper coming out of the halftime break. Just 25 seconds into the third frame, USC tried to set up a cross-cage one-timer. May lunged across the net and arched her body enough to get a hand on the ball and steer it aside. On the ensuing trip down the pool, Mantel tried to deposit a skip shot from the left side but was denied by the keeper. The Trojans got two quick goals -- one on a counterattack and one on a power play -- to extend their lead to 9-0 before the Wolverines offense found its spark.

With one second left on a 6-on-5, Chatigny let a howitzer go from six meters into the upper left corner of the cage. A minute later, Chatigny almost turned a May save into her second goal, taking a pass off the save and making an attempt from left side of the cage. She did not have to wait long to bury her second marker, however, as she took a long pass from freshman Ryley Plunkett (Modesto, Calif./Johansen) and was off to the races. Chatigny and Felt screamed across the water ahead of a pack of USC defenders before Chatigny decided to shoot from three meters and buried the ball into the left side of the cage.

In the final stanza, USC scored a minute in to take a 10-2 lead and hit the back of the net again at 4:23 on a sweep shot at two meters. Michigan refused to give up, generating scoring chances for freshman Lauren Orth (Poway, Calif./Poway) and Hyrne before junior Carrie Frost (Saline, Mich./Saline) punched through with a goal. With a defender on her back, Frost turned and fired a shot across the goal mouth and into the back of the cage. Reitz came close to adding another late U-M goal on a cross-feed from Hernandez but was turned aside by the Trojan keeper.

Michigan will move into the consolation bracket to take on Marist at 12:30 p.m. PDT on day two of the 2008 NCAA Championship. The teams will battle for the right to play in Sunday's fifth-place game.

Game Summary by Periods
1..2..3..4..F

Southern Cal
5..2..2..3..12
Michigan
0..0..2..1..3

USC Goals: Veronika Bartunkova 4, Sarah Van Norman 4, Alexandra Kiss 2, Jordan Anae, Miranda Nichols.
U-M Goals: Mary Chatigny 2, Carrie Frost.

Michigan Water Polo: Headed to NCAA Championships

From MGoBlue.com

http://www.mgoblue.com/water-polo-w/article.aspx?id=135842

Westbound Wolverines Are Champions of the East

April 27, 2008
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Canham Natatorium)
Event: Eastern Championship (Finals)
Scores: #11 Michigan 10, #14 Hartwick 7
Record: U-M (33-9); Hartwick (28-11)
Next U-M Event: Friday-Sunday, May 9-11 -- at NCAA Championship (Palo Alto, Calif.)

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 11-ranked University of Michigan water polo team captured the Eastern Championship title and an automatic bid for the 2008 NCAA Championship with its 10-7 win against the No. 14-ranked Hartwick on Sunday afternoon (April 27) in Canham Natatorium. Junior Julie Hyrne (Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) was the star of the game for the Wolverines, tallying four goals, including the game-winner, and an assist. Hyrne was also named the Most Valuable Player for the Eastern Championship -- she had six goals during the tournament.

Junior goalkeeper Brittany May (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara) also put forth an exemplary effort, making eight saves in the championship game. Sophomore Leah Robertson (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) had five steals to go with three points on the day while senior Michelle Keeley (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) had a goal and an assist in her final collegiate game at home. Freshman Alison Mantel (Miami, Fla./Gulliver) had a pair of goals and two steals in the contest.

Hyrne converted for the game's opening goal at 5:51. With a defender on her back at two meters, Hyrne spun and swatted the ball along the water into the left of the goal. A minute and a half later, Keeley reared back and fired a ball into the cage from five meters. Keeley created space for herself by fading away from her defender while shooting towards the right of the cage to put U-M up 2-0. Kirsten Hudson got the Hawks on the board with a well-placed lob shot into the right portion of the goal at 3:55. Mantel caught a break on U-M's next goal. Mantel's shot pinballed off the crossbar then the goalie's back and over the goal line. Junior Mary Chatigny (Palm Springs, Calif./Palm Springs) ended the scoring in the first quarter by going coast to coast and lobbing a shot over the goalie into the top right corner of the goal.

Mantel notched her second goal of the game on a penalty shot at 5:09 to make it 5-1 in favor of the Wolverines. Junior Sharayah Hernandez (Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) drew the five-meter penalty by breaking away from the Hartwick defense in transition. Thirty seconds later, Hudson's scored the second goal of the day for Hartwick as she simply rose up and fired the ball into the right of cage. Hyrne collected her second tally with a power-play goal at the two-minute mark. U-M worked the ball from right to center to left and Hyrne shot inside the left post before the Hawk goalie could recover. Robertson picked up the assist on the play. HC's Barbara Amaro trimmed U-M's lead to 6-3 on a skip shot 15 seconds later. May made her best save of the first half just inside the one-minute mark. May lunged for a shot heading for the top left corner of the cage and deflected it over the crossbar. May got somewhat lucky in the final seconds of the half when Hudson's penalty shot attempt skipped high over the crossbar.

At 3:14, the Hawks had made it a one-goal game at 6-5 thanks to two more goals. May stoned a Megan Dahl-Smith shot to maintain the slim Wolverine advantage. Dahl-Smith tried to deflect a crossing feed in front of the cage, but May alertly moved up out of the cage to smother the shot. Robertson and Hyrne reasserted Michigan's control of the game with goals at 1:54 and 30 seconds. Hyrne fed Robertson at the left of the cage for the first tally. Then Hyrne scored on a no-look, over the shoulder shot to give the Maize and Blue an 8-5 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Hartwick's Ellen Sevigny scored a six-on-five goal at 6:10 of the final frame on a shot inside the left post. Chatigny responded on U-M's following possession. As a penalty to HC was expiring, Chatigny worked her way in from seven meters out to five before depositing the ball into the left of the goal. Hyrne poured in her fourth goal of the game with backhander at 2:37 as the shot clock was winding down. Hartwick cut its deficit back to three 12 seconds later, but the Wolverine defense put the clamps on down the stretch and held on for the triumph.

To the victors come the spoils as the Wolverines wrapped up the CWPA's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Championships (Fri.-Sun., May 9-11) in Palo Alto, Calif. The eight-team NCAA field and tournament bracket will be announced Monday, April 28, at 7 p.m. EDT on CBS College Sports Television. The bracket will be posted on the NCAA site after the selection show.