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10 CWPA Student-Athletes Named to 2009 ACWPC Division I All-America Team
2009 Women's All-America Teams
DENVER, Colo. -- The Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches released its Division I All-America team on Wednesday, June 17 with 10 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) making an appearance on the list of 56 honored athletes. University of Michigan utility player Leah Robertson (Jr., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) led the league's selections with third team recognition, while the other nine earned Honorable Mention accolades.
Robertson, an honorable mention selection in 2008, led the Wolverines in steals for the third consecutive season with 69 thefts. In addition to the shutdown defense that has put her atop the program list for steals, Robertson ranked second on the team in assists with 31, third in points with 72 and fourth in goals, denting the twine on 41 occasions. Robertson had a strong regular season, collecting CWPA All-Western Division first team honors but turned it on in the postseason to the tune of 24 points in nine games. Along the way, she was named to the CWPA Eastern All-Tournament first team and became the first Wolverine to earn a repeat selection to an NCAA All-Tournament team, being tabbed to the first team.
On the honorable mention squad, Michigan utility player Julie Hyrne (Sr., Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) and driver Alison Mantel (So., Miami, Fla./Gulliver), Brown University goalie Stephanie Laing (Jr., Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), Hartwick College utility players Kirsten Hudson (Jr., Wellington, New Zealand/Sacred Heart) and Jessica McKee (So., Tustin, Calif./Laguna Beach), Bucknell University driver Aubrey Rowe (Sr., Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and two-meter Valentina Rozas (Jr., Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) and University of Maryland attackers Elizabeth Hopkins (Sr., Coronado, Calif./Coronado) and Blaise Stanicic (Sr., Annapolis, Md./The Key School) were recognized for their play.
Hyrne concluded her career with her
second All-America recognition, following up a third team selection
last season. The Wolverine quad-captain returned from offseason
surgery to lead the team with 33 assists and finished second in
goals with 51, points with 84 and was fourth in steals with 41. She
also became the only U-M player to amass 100 assists, 200 goals and
300 points in a career. She repeated as CWPA Western Division MVP
and as a CWPA Eastern All-Tournament first team honoree. In the
classroom, Hyrne was tabbed Academic All-Big Ten and to the CWPA
Scholar-Athlete team.
Mantel earned her first national recognition after leading the
Maize and Blue with 56 goals and 87 points. A CWPA All-Western
Division second team selection, Mantel also finished second amongst
Wolverines with 50 steals and 31 assists. She became the third
player in program history to record 50 goals in a season in 2009
and made her debut on the U-M career goals list with 105 scores in
two seasons. Mantel was also named to the CWPA Scholar-Athlete team
and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors.
Laing notched her first All-America honor as she recorded a .522 save percentage with 283 saves, a goal, an assist and a 19-16 record during 968 minutes of play. A two-time Northern Division All-Conference selection earning first team honors in 2009 after taking second place accolades in 2007, she now has 695 saves and a 65-36 career record while recording a goal and 20 assists for 21 points in her career.
Hudson picked up her third All-America honorable mention selection following honors in 2008 and 2007 as she recorded one of the most impressive seasons of any player in Hartwick water polo history in 2009. She became the first player at Hartwick to break the 200-point mark in a single season, broke the career goals and points records at 'Wick, and reached the 500-point mark for her career. Further, she was named the Eastern Championship Most Valuable Player for the second time in three years and earned first team All-Tournament honors for the third straight time. A Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Northern Division First Team all-star for the third consecutive season, she earned her division's Player of the Week award four-times during the 2009 season. She broke the season assist record with 77 helpers, while her 124 goals in 2009 was the second-highest single-season total in program history. Defensively, she registered 87 steals this season giving her 205 (tied for 4th all-time) for her three-year career.
McKee concluded the year with 65 goals and 44 assists for 109 points to rank second on the team in goals behind Hudson and record the 10th highest single-season point total. A first time All-America recipient, she now has 119 goals and 80 assists for 199 points at Hartwick.
Rowe wraps up her career with her first All-America honor as she adds to a season of accomplishments. The Lee S. “Bud” Ranck Award recipient, presented by Bucknell to senior athletes “for outstanding spirit and contributions to the Bucknell athletic program," she was named to the 2009 Collegiate Sports Information (CoSIDA) ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District II At-Large second team in the wake of claiming a number of career and single-season records in her four years in the Orange & Blue despite batting injuries. After setting the single-season mark for steals with 84 last year, the driver came back in her senior campaign to take the season marks in points (128) and goals (75). She finished her career with 358 points and 251 steals, both of which rank first in the Bucknell record book. In addition, she earned her second consecutive selection to the Second Team All-CWPA Southern Division, capping off a career in which she was named First Team All-Conference and CWPA Eastern Conference Rookie of the Year in 2006.
Rozas earned her second All-America award as she was previously recognized on the 2008 honorable mention team. An All-Southern Division first team member, she scored a career-high 73 goals this season, good for second in the single-season record book, and also tallied 24 assists, accumulating a total of 97 points to hold the seventh spot in single-season points at the university. Her team-high 180 shots from this year set established a new season record, and her 89 ejections drawn puts her tied for second in that category. She currently ranks fourth on the career goals list, tallying 190 over her three years as well as sixth in total points (255). Additionally, she is second in career ejections drawn (231) and shots (456). An All-Southern Division first team selection for three consecutive seasons, she earned the 2008 Southern Division Player of the Year award.
Hopkins grabbed her first All-America notice as she posted 39 goals and 17 assists for 56 points with 35 steals in leading Maryland to a 16-13 record and a third place finish at the CWPA Eastern Championship. An All-Southern Division first team selection the past three seasons, she concludes her Terrapins' career with 189 goals and 72 assists for 261 points with 158 steals.
Stanicic netted 28 goals and 35 assists for 63 points with 24 steals in 2009 to record her second All-America honor as she was previously named to the 2008 honorable mention team. A four-time All-Southern Division selection (2009 - 2nd; 2008 - 1st; 2007 - 1st; 2006 - 2nd), she wraps up her time in College Park with 139 goals and 116 assists for 255 points with 147 steals.
The AWPC selects first, second and third teams for its Division I All-America awards. For voting, players receive three points for a first team nomination, two points for a second team nomination, and one point for a third team nomination. A player may earn honorable mention if she receives votes from two schools, excluding her own.
Overall, the 10 selections marks an improvement over the league's showing in 2008 as the Collegiate Water Polo Association garnered eight Division I All-America honorees in 2008, following four in 2007 and 2006.
