National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

March 3, 1997

California schools spotlight water polo all-America teams

Three schools in the University of California system dominated the 1996 American Water Polo Coaches Association all-America teams, sweeping player- and coach-of-the-year honors.

UCLA, which captured its second consecutive National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship in 1996; UC Davis; and UC San Diego each claimed top player and coach honors in their respective divisions.

UCLA goaltender Matt Swanson, the most outstanding player at the 1996 championship, and the Bruins' Guy Baker were named Division I player and coach of the year, respectively, for the second consecutive year.

Ryan Indart and Tom Elson of UC Davis were the recipients of the Division II player- and coach-of-the-year honors, respectively. Indart and Elson were instrumental in helping the Aggies to a best-ever third-place championship finish.

UC San Diego's Romas Kudirka and Denny Harper are the Division III player and coach of the year, respectively.

Stanford's Brian Wallin led the balloting for field players in Division I despite the fact that the Cardinal did not qualify for the NCAA championship.

Villanova and Queens (New York) had players named to the respective all-America teams for the first time. Jamie Randall became Division I Villanova's first selection, while Pedro De Lima and John Vasek became Divsion II Queens' first honorees.

Following are the 1996 all-American selections in each division.

Division I

First team: Matt Swanson, goaltender, UCLA; Brent Albright, California; Jim Toring, UCLA; Hrvoje Cizmic, Southern California; Brian Wallin, Stanford; Marko Zagar, Southern California; Bradley Schumacher, Pacific (California).

Second team: Brendan Grubbs, goaltender, Southern California; Omar Amr, UC Irvine; Corbin Graham, UCLA; Jeremy Braxton-Brown, UCLA; Ryan Bailey, UC Irvine; Simun Cimerman, Southern California; Daniel Lehoczky, Stanford.

Third team: Chris Aguilera, goaltender, Stanford; Brian Pendergast, Air Force; Peter Stern, California; Mateo Juric, Southern California; Ryan Price, Pacific (California); Brian Stahl, Massachusetts; Alex Rodriguez, Pepperdine.

Coach of the year: Guy Baker, UCLA.

Player of the year: Matt Swanson, UCLA.

Division II

Mike DeJong, goaltender, UC Davis; Ryan Indart, UC Davis; James Giulianotti, UC Davis; Tom Beam, Slippery Rock; Jeremy Estep, Slippery Rock; Pedro De Lima, Queens (New York); John Vasek, Queens (New York).

Coach of the year: Tom Elson, UC Davis.

Player of the year: Ryan Indart, UC Davis.

Division III

First team: Tim Behrens, goaltender, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps; Romas Kudirka, UC San Diego; Ross Meecham, UC San Diego; Adam Bollenbach, UC San Diego; Chris Schneider, Whittier; Nick Wagner, Occidental; Richard Won, Pomona-Pitzer.

Second team: Eric Roberts, goaltender, Occidental; Chris Cha, Johns Hopkins; James Silberstein, Washington and Lee; Kris Behrens, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps; Matt Lau, MIT; Peter Sorensen, Washington and Lee; Bob Ghassemieh, Johns Hopkins.

Coach of the year: Denny Harper, UC San Diego.

Player of the Year: Romas Kudirka, UC San Diego.