The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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OLYMPIC SPORTS seems like veterans and younger players are reading things a couple steps ahead. "Our offense is doing well this year, too, but our defense is some‑ thing I've really noticed. Everyone seems to understand what their job is and they are executing it to near perfection." Leonardi echoed the sentiments of his senior keeper and added in the fact that talent, balance and versatil‑ ity are also contributing to the confi‑ dence within the team. "I think our defense and our ver‑ satility make us really tough to deal with," he said. "We are very versatile and can play a lot of positions in the water. After taking over last year, I think we took a huge jump from year one to year two defensively. "If you look at our scoring beyond [senior] Ali Thomason, who is ab‑ solutely incredible, we have really balanced scoring. I think that also speaks to our versatility. All of our starters score at least one to one and a half goals per game on average. It's impossible to key in on just one person. "I didn't realize that we would click so quickly in all of those areas. This group has a knack for winning close games, too. It speaks to the maturity of our group. Our talent is really good as well, and I think all of that came together quicker than I thought it would." The postseason is quickly ap‑ proaching — the Collegiate Water Polo Association Championships are April 29‑May 1 and the NCAA Championships are May 13‑15 — and the coach admits that he has high hopes for how his team can per‑ form down the stretch. "We have six conference games left on our schedule and I want to be able to go undefeated in conference," he said prior to home wins over No. 16 Princeton (9‑7) and No. 13 Harvard (10‑5) April 9 that put U‑M's league record at 5‑0. "We'd like the No. 1 seed in the tournament to position ourselves for a conference tourna‑ ment run. "We can't lose the rest of the way — that's our goal. It's one game at a time. We have to take care of busi‑ ness in conference and claim the right to go to NCAAs. Once you're there, it's a whole new season. From there, we set goals to be in the top four, but before all of that, we need to win conference and finish the regular season on a high note." BASEBALL OFF TO HOT START AND STILL IMPROVING Michigan head baseball coach Erik Bakich got his team off to a 21‑8 start through April 11, earning his squad a No. 17 ranking nationally. The fourth‑year Michigan coach spread the praise around while talking about his team's current standing. "The record is a byproduct of guys staying hungry and not being satis‑ fied," he said. "They really treat each day as an opportunity to get better. Our approach to growth, between all of the coaches and players, has been a good one and the record is reflec‑ tive of that."