BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Freshman Heidi Ritner (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) of the University of Michigan made 47 saves with six steals and two assists in a 3-2 weekend for the No. 7-ranked Wolverines at the University of California-Santa Barbara Winter Invitational to post notice as the January 23 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division I Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week.
She recorded a .588 save percentage in her inaugural collegiate weekend of competition in helping Michigan take down No. 23 California State University-Bakersfield (11-2 W), No. 8 University of California-Santa Barbara (7-4 W) and No. 22 California State University-Northridge (18-5 W) with losses to No. 2 the University of Southern California (11-3 L) and No. 3 the University of California-Los Angeles (12-5 L). Ritner allowed fewer than five goals in three games and helped the Wolverines post a plus-minus of +10 (44 goals for, 34 goals against).
Facing defending National Champion USC on Friday, January 20, in Michigan’s season-opener, she turned away 11 shots in taking a loss. She added 14 stops against UCLA and turned away nine shots in a victory over CSU-Bakersfield. Further, she notched seven saves versus UC-Santa Barbara for her first Top 10 victory to accompany six saves in three quarters of play against CSU-Northridge.
January 23 CWPA Division I Defensive Player of the Week Honor Roll: Jessica Gaudreault (Indiana University)
January 23 CWPA Division I Rookie of the Week Honor Roll: Mollie Williams (Indiana University)
