Michigan utility player Delia Sonda couldn't resist the temptation.

The rest of her teammates were unsure of whether to jump into the DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, N.J. to celebrate their victory in the Eastern Championships last weekend, but Sonda immediately dove into the water and began "hugging and kicking" with her teammates.

"The anticipation was building," said Sonda, who played for the Wolverines when they were just a club water polo team two years ago. "The whole time I was waiting for someone to score, and as soon as Jen (Crisman) scored, I jumped in, and I looked behind me and everyone was still standing there. Some people were just shocked."

The Wolverines are not alone in their shocked state. There are many people in the water polo community who are trying to figure out how Michigan jumped to the NCAA Championships in just its second varsity season. But Michigan coach Amber Drury-Pinto knew it wouldn't take long for this program to compete with the nation's elite.

"Coming into Michigan, I knew it wouldn't take long because they had a strong club team," Drury-Pinto said. "It was definitely a perk when I was looking at this position. All the players stepped up and rose to the occasion."

The Wolverines will be joined at the NCAA Championships by No. 1 seed Stanford, No. 2 seed UCLA and No. 3 seed Loyola Marymount and will face off against the Cardinal Saturday in Los Angeles in the national semifinal. The 12th-ranked Wolverines received an automatic bid to the tournament by winning the Eastern Championships. In its two years of varsity play, Michigan is 1-19 against teams from the west coast and was defeated by Stanford twice last season, 11-3 and 17-3.

But it's been more than a year since Stanford has seen Michigan, and although the Cardinal are stacked with Olympic-caliber talent, Drury-Pinto is not cowering away.

"We've kind of got an edge," Drury-Pinto said. "(Stanford) hasn't seen us. We think that Stanford might not be as prepared for us as they might think."

"When you read the message board about this tournament, most people are disregarding us and saying that we're going to get completely destroyed," Sonda said. "We are very much wanting to prove that we deserve a seat at NCAAs. Some people say that they should take the top four in the country and not out of regionals. I think we can give Stanford a good game, and we can beat Loyola Marymount."

Drury-Pinto is trying her best to convince her team that there is nothing different about playing against the traditional powerhouses like the Cardinal and the Bruins.

"They could be called Podunk University," Drury-Pinto said. "It doesn't matter. They're human. We can match up with those teams. Yeah, they've got some experience on us, but we're fighters."

The Wolverines had to claw their way into the NCAA Championships, beating Indiana in the semifinals in four overtimes and Hartwick in the first sudden-death frame. Michigan has a 5-0 record in overtime this season.

"We have a lot of heart," Sonda said. "If we go into overtime, I'll be confident. I think that we will win if we get to overtime."