It was a weekend of milestones for the winningest team in the NCAA, as the Michigan water polo team grabbed its 300th all-time win.
The No. 7 Wolverines (300-117-1) captured their monumental win with a 10-6 victory over Iona College on Sunday; it was their seventh win in three days at the Wolverine Invitational.
Michigan coach Matt Anderson also celebrated his 250th win with the Wolverines after a 19-2 win over Gannon University on Friday.
“(The 250 wins) just mean that I’m getting old,” Anderson said. “It really means that the program is doing something right, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have the support of the school and of the team to keep doing things right … My job is to develop my players as athletes and college students and the bonus as a coach is that you win games.”
Senior Alison Mantel, who has been a big part of the Wolverines’ success over the last four seasons, is approaching a milestone of her own. Over the weekend, she scored nine goals to put her five away from joining former Wolverines Julie Hyrne and Shana Welch in the Michigan’s 200-goal club.
“I don’t really keep track of my goals,” Mantel said. “I just go in every day trying to perform my best, do whatever I need to do for the team and win games.”
Senior Lauren Orth is also approaching a benchmark with her 29-game scoring streak — the third-longest streak in Wolverine history behind Hyrne’s 44-game-scoring streak and Welch’s 41-game streak.
All numbers aside, the Wolverines are focused on finishing out their season strong by taking on their opponents one at a time — or in this weekend’s case, seven teams at a time.
“We approach our games by focusing on who we’re playing tonight and not worrying about who we’re playing tomorrow,” Anderson said. “My players are always going one step at a time. That is why we’ve been so successful.”