MAAC Announces 2017 Water Polo All-MAAC Teams & Major Award Winners
MAAC Sports
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY –Iona College's Hannah Schultz and Wagner College's Kimberly Watson have been named as the 2017 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Water Polo Co-Offensive Player of the Year as voted on by the leagues eight head coaches. Emily Riddle of Wagner College was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year and Isabel French from VMI earned the Rookie of the Year honor.
Virginia Military Institute Head Coach Ryan Pryor was selected as the 2017 BSN Sports MAAC Coach of Year.
Schultz, a junior from Tinley Park, IL led the Gaels to another postseason appearance. She is tied for first in the MAAC win goals (89) with fellow Co-Offensive Player of the Year Kimberly Watson. In addition to the 89 goals, Schultz recorded five assists and 94 total points which is seventh in the MAAC. Hannah Schultz was Offensive Player of the Week four times during the season and led the Gaels in points and goals.
The second Co-offensive player of the year, Kimberly Watson, ranks third in the conference with 118 points on 89 goals and 29 assists. The Wagner Seahawk also ranks fourth in goals per game with 2.70 and fifth in points per game averaging 3.58. The Pointe-Claire, QC, Canada native was named Offensive Player of the Week three times during the regular season.
Also from Wagner is Defensive Player of the Year Emily Riddle. This is Riddle's second Defensive Player of the Year award, previously earning the award in 2015. The senior goalie from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada was second in the conference with 208 saves. She ranks second in goals against average allowing an average of 6.84. Riddle was named Defensive Player of the Week five times this season.
The MAAC Rookie of the Year, Isabel French, from Naperville, IL helped the VMI Keydets to a record breaking season. French was named Defensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week twice for each. French was the MAAC leader in saves with 274. French also ranks seventh in the conference in save percentage (.525). French had a game high of 19 saves twice which ties her own No. 2 spot in the VMI record book.
VMI Head Coach Ryan Pryor had a monumental year for the Keydets. Pryor led VMI to an overall record of 22-6 and a MAAC record of 11-3. Pryor managed to coach the team to their first postseason appearance in school history. In addition to making the championship for the first time, Pryor became the first Keydet coach to reach the 20 win mark.
Closing out the All-MAAC first team with Schultz, Watson, and Riddle are, Marist's Amanda Amorosa, Villanova's Dominique Clark, VMI's Shelby Barkley, and Wagner's Erica Hardy.
The All-MAAC second team is made up of Iona's Kayla Allen and Britten Vilander, Marist's Grace Doerfler and Nastassia McGlothlin, Siena's Diana Fernandez, VMI's Natalie Rivas, and the Wagner duo of Elise Begg and Millie Pullyblank.
All-MAAC First Team
* Hannah Schultz, Iona
* Amanda Amorosa, Marist
Dominique Clark, Villanova
Shelby Barkley, VMI
Erica Hardy, Wagner
Kimberly Watson, Wagner
Emily Riddle, Wagner
All-MAAC Second Team
Kayla Allen, Iona
Britten Vilander, Iona
Grace Doerfler, Marist
Nastassia McGlothlin, Marist
Diana Fernandez, Siena
Natalie Rivas, VMI
Elise Begg, Wagner
Millie Pullyblank, Wagner
Co-Offensive Player of the Year
Hannah Schultz, Iona
Kimberly Watson, Wagner
Defensive Player of the Year
Emily Riddle, Wagner
Rookie of the Year
Isabel French, VMI
BSN Sports MAAC Coach of the Year
Ryan Pryor, VMI
*Denotes unanimous selection
For all of the up to date information on the 2017 MAAC Water Polo Championship visit maacsports.com/waterpolo. Tickets can be purchased on maac.ticketleap.com. All games will be available on maac.tv.