The scenario was the same each time: The Michigan guards fed the ball into the drivers located five feet from the net; the drives rotated their arms back and took the shot. But shot after shot failed to break the goal line, bouncing off the palm of the Indiana goalie or the goal post.

"I'm flabbergasted we lost that game," Michigan coach Matt Anderson said. "It's the same as the basketball team going to the charity stripe and shooting 20 percent. (The team) had open cages that they should be able to make with their eyes closed."

Playing in front of a crowd filled with St. Patrick's Day cheer on Friday, the No. 15 Michigan water polo team (15-7) lost to regional rival No. 19 Indiana 6-4 at Canham Natatorium. The loss was just the second in history for the Wolverines against the Hoosiers. The Wolverines defeated the Hoosiers 11-7 in the teams' first meeting this season on Feb. 4.

Despite freshman Julie Hyrne's hat trick and a lob over the head of Indiana goalie Jackie Pyrz by junior Shana Welch to start the game, Michigan failed to penetrate the goal line in both the third and the fourth quarters. Welch attributed the loss to the offense.

"We made the wrong choices as to where we put the balls," said Welch.

Said Anderson: "We had everybody but two people go cold today."

The disappointment was apparent on the faces of the Wolverines as they filed away to the locker room. But Michigan had to recover and report back to Canham for the 8 a.m. contest the next morning against Cal Baptist.

Michigan swept all three Saturday matches, starting by beating the Lancers, 9-5. The Wolverines then put away Grove City, 11-1, and as part of the Senior Night celebration, Michigan downed No. 17 California State-Northridge, 11-6.

Leading the Wolverines with four goals, Welch started Michigan off with a lob shot that was quickly followed by another goal into the right corner of the Matadors' cage. Welch finished the tournament with 13 goals, including four goals in the California Lutheran win and three in the win over Slippery Rock. The Wolverines defeated the Kingsmen, 14-4, and the Rocks, 15-6.

The second loss of the weekend for Michigan came in the early morning match against No. 7 San Diego State, 13-0.

During the San Diego game, the Wolverines faced many of the same problems as they did in the Indiana game such as breaking through the defense and finding the right opportunities to score. Michigan failed to notch a single goal against Aztec junior goalie Sarah Kilgore.

"In the first half, we only gave up four goals," Anderson. "Defensively, giving up four goals to a top-10 team, I'll take. Offensively, we were struggling again."

Playing behind sophomore Sally Stone for most of the season, freshman goalie Kristen Davis was forced to the front after Stone got hurt during the UCSB Gaucho Invite Feb. 25 and 26.

After putting on what Anderson described as a stellar performance against the Hoosiers, Davis bounced back from the Indiana loss to have a career-high 12 blocks against California Baptist. As for the San Diego State match, Anderson felt Davis's performance saved the game from being much worse, stopping two Aztec breakaways.

San Diego State went undefeated throughout the weekend.

Michigan finished the tournament 5-2.

"The reality is there were four teams capable of beating us at this tournament," Anderson said. "We beat two of them, and I felt we played well enough to beat (Indiana)."