MAAC Announces 2016 Water Polo All-MAAC Teams & Major Award Winners
MAAC Sports
EDISON, NJ – With a unanimous vote from the league’s seven head coaches, Wagner College’s Jess Lundgren has been named as the 2016 MAAC Water Polo Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. Julie Conrath of Villanova University was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year and Katie Tijerina from Marist College earned the Rookie of the Year honor.
Wagner College Head Coach Chris Radmonvich was selected as the 2016 Lids Team Sports MAAC Coach of Year.
Lundgren, a senior from Queensland, Australia played a vital role in Wagner’s success this season. She led the MAAC in goals, points, and steals. Lundgren tallied 137 goals, setting a new MAAC record for most goals in a single season, which was previously set back in 2011 by Maggie Wood of Iona College with 119. In addition, to the 137 goals, she also racked up 196 points, and 113 steals. Lundgren was name MAAC Offensive Player of the Week six times this season.
The junior goalie from Inverness, IL, Conrath, had 333 saves this season, which ranked first in league. She was a contributing factor in Villanova’s success as the Wildcats earned the number four seed in MAAC Championship. Her goals against average ranked fourth in the MAAC, with 8.98 during conference play. Conrath completed the regular season with a .535 save percentage, which is second in the conference.
The MAAC Rookie of the Year, Tijerina, a freshman from Commerce, CA made a splash her rookie year as a Red Fox. Tijerina was named MAAC Rookie of the Week six times and MAAC Defensive Player of the Week once this season. During conference play, she ranked eighth in points per game (2.75) and ninth in goals per game (1.88). In addition, she totaled 23 goals this year.
Radmonovich, lead the Seahawks to an overall record of 27-9. After leading the Seahawks to an undefeated record in conference play Wagner won its seventh MAAC Regular Season Title and the number one seed in the MAAC Championship. Radmonovich’s team was consistently ranked in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 25 Poll this year, where Wagner is currently ranked 18th in the nation.
Closing out the All-MAAC first team with Lundgren and Conrath are Iona’s Hannah Schultz, Marist’s Amanda Amorosa, Villanova’s Naomi Ng, and Wagner’s Lily Doerfler and Megan Rodriguez.
Joining Tijerina on the All-MAAC second team are Iona’s Meghan Mahoney and Rebecca Mathews, Marist’s Skyler Henry, Villanova’s Dominique Clark, VMI’s Shelby Barkley, and Wagner’s Kimberly Watson.
All-MAAC First Team
Hannah Schultz, Iona
Amanda Amorosa, Marist
Julie Conrath, Villanova
Naomi Ng, Villanova
Lily Doerfler, Wagner
Jess Lundgren, Wagner
Megan Rodriguez, Wagner
All-MAAC Second Team
Meghan Mahoney, Iona
Rebecca Mathews, Iona
Skyler Henry, Marist
Katie Tijerina, Marist
Dominique Clark, Villanova
Shelby Barkley, VMI
Kimberly Watson, Wagner
Offensive Player of the Year
Jess Lundgren, Wagner
Defensive Player of the Year
Julie Conrath, Villanova
Rookie of the Year
Katie Tijerina, Marist
Coach of the Year
Chris Radmonovich, Wagner