Tears streamed down Kelsey Nolan’s face, but she was still smiling.
The senior attacker was surrounded by teammates singing “The Victors” after the Michigan water polo team’s 15-5 win over Notre Dame (Ohio) on Sunday. When the voices died down, Nolan’s teammates embraced her in a team hug.
But Nolan wasn’t expected to be the one that let emotions surface this easily after she played her last game with fellow seniors attacker Hathaway Moore and driver Audrey Pratt in Canham Natatorium.
“We were rivals in high school, teammates in club and now teammates at Michigan,” Moore said. “It’s kind of hard to realize it’s coming down to the wire for us.”
Fittingly enough, they ended their final home game in an orderly fashion. With three minutes left, Michigan coach Matt Anderson substituted the trio in so they could compete together one last time.
Before they jumped in the pool, Anderson told them one thing: “Each of you scores one goal in these final minutes.” It didn’t take them long to execute the plan.
After diving in, it took Nolan just 20 seconds before she scored, extending the Wolverines’ lead to 13-5, and Pratt and Moore followed over the next two minutes. To end their home career on a high note, Anderson put them back on the bench and they were given a standing ovation as the three sat down.
“It’s the last time we’ll ever be on a team together,” Moore said. “Emotionally it’s hard, but it’s also fun because we love our team, and it’s great to be in the water with the girls.”
Added Pratt: “I think the thing that will really hit me is my last practice here — last time being on the pool deck, in the water, with the girls. I’m not looking forward to it.”
What made it even easier to follow Anderson’s plan was that the three knew each other’s playing style, with their friendships dating back to freshman year of high school — they even played together through NorCal Water Polo in their senior year.
“We just kind of knew where to put the ball for each other and how to make it happen,” Pratt said.
Saturday, Michigan (5-4 CWPA West, 19-12 overall) held its Senior Night in celebration of the trio’s careers, bringing in one of the biggest crowds this year. Parents and friends held up pictures of the senior portrait, and others brought giant signs of Moore and Nolan’s faces as if it were a basketball game.
Anderson first introduced Moore and talked enormously of her academic achievements, referring to her as a beacon of light over the last four years. Nolan was the next to receive her flowers and words from coach.
“Kelsey is the definition of what you want an athlete to continue to do, which is to get better, to continue to work harder and to go out with your senior year being the best,” Anderson said to the crowd. “She’s proven that physically, mentally and academically.”
Anderson finished off the ceremony with Pratt, or “Prattlesnake” as she is known. He found the name in a newspaper comic strip and thought it fitted her appropriately since a “prattlesnake” makes a lot of noise and Pratt “talks a lot.” In her senior season, Pratt has achieved career bests in all categories.
Though the Wolverines suffered a 10-6 loss at the hands of Hartwick on Saturday, Michigan’s frustrations carried over to Sunday’s game against Gannon and wore off by the Notre Dame (Ohio) matchup later in the afternoon. In the second half against Notre Dame (Ohio), the Wolverines held onto a substantial lead, and the game became about one thing.
“Let’s understand this for what it is: the seniors’ final game,” Anderson said.
But the seniors’ role didn’t end Sunday. When the Wolverines travel to Lewisburg, Pa., in two weeks for the CWPA Eastern Championships, they’ll have one final chance to show their hard work has paid off.
If Michigan places first, the payment will come in the form of an NCAA Tournament bid that this senior class has yet to earn.