BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Goalie Heidi Ritner (Sr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) turned aside 43 shots over 134 minutes and collected seven steals during a 2-2 weekend for No. 10-ranked the University of Michigan at the University of California-Irvine’s Kalbus Invitational. For her performance, Ritner is named the February 24 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division I Defensive Player of the Week.
A 19-time weekly honor recipient from the league office following the January 20 and January 27 Defensive Player of the Week awards earlier this season, four Defensive Player of the Week accolades in 2019 (February 25, March 18, April 15) and three Defensive Player of the Week awards (January 22, March 12, May 14) in 2018 along with five Rookie of the Week (January 23, February 13, February 27, April 10, May 15) and four Defensive Player of the Week (January 23, February 27, April 10, May 15) nods during her freshman season in 2017, she shattered the Michigan career wins record to surpass CWPA Hall of Fame member/United States Olympic team goalie Betsey Armstrong’s mark of 86 victories.
Competing against four nationally-ranked Top 10 foes, she posted 43 saves with 30 goals allowed over 134 minutes between the pipes as the Maize & Blue downed No. 7 the University of California (11-10 W OT) and No. 9 University of California-Santa Barbara (5-4 W) to accompany defeats by No. 2 University of California-Los Angeles (7-2 L) and No. 6/host UC-Irvine (9-8 L).
She opened the weekend by posting 16 saves with a pair of steals in a defeat of Cal prior to stopping eight shots against UCLA. Following an 11-save, two steal performance versus UC-Irvine, Ritner closed out the weekend by notching eight saves with three steals to upend UC-Santa Barbara in the Seventh Place game.
February 24 Collegiate Water Polo Association Division I Defensive Player of the Week Honor Roll: Marissa Webb (Princeton University)
