MAAC Announces 2019 Water Polo Preseason Honors
EDISON, NJ – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced Thursday that Wagner College is the 2019 MAAC Water Polo Preseason Favorite as voted on by the league’s head coaches.
Wagner’s Erica Hardy was named Preseason Player of the Year and Virginia Military Institute’s Isabel French as the Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year.
Wagner picked up seven first-place votes and 63 total points to claim the top spot in the poll. Wagner won its fifth consecutive MAAC Championship in 2018 and eighth overall. The Seahawks topped UC Davis before falling to USC in the NCAA Championship.
Marist College got the final first-place vote and had 57 points total. Iona College (43 points) rounded out the top three.
Places fourth, fifth, and sixth in the poll were occupied by VMI (36), Villanova University (29), and St. Francis Brooklyn (24) respectively. Siena College and La Salle University were picked seventh and eighth with 23 and 13 points respectively.
Hardy was a unanimous selection to the First Team All-MAAC a season ago for Wagner. The senior was second in the MAAC in total points last season with 145. Hardy ranked fifth in goals (85) and second in assists (60) in 2018.
French made the most saves in the MAAC a season ago, 306. The junior picked up one MAAC Defensive Player of the Week honor last season and finished fourth in the league in save percentage (.564) and goals against average (8.79).
Hardy and French are joined on the Preseason All-MAAC Team by Jordan van Reeken (utility, Iona), Grace Doerfler (center, Marist), Katherine Tijerina (utility, Marist), Kelsey Snelgar (attack, St. Francis Brooklyn), Diana Fernandez (attack, Siena), and Sophia Torres (defense, Siena).
For the 17th consecutive year the MAAC Water Polo Championship will be played at
McCann Natatorium on the campus of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Marist has hosted the Water Polo Championship since 2003. Semifinal action begins Saturday, April 27. The consolation game and championship game will be played the following day on Sunday, April 28. For more information on the 2018 MAAC Water Polo Championship, visit
maacsports.com/wp.
| Preseason All-MAAC Team |
| Name |
Institution |
Position |
| Jordan van Reeken |
Iona |
Utility |
| Grace Doerfler |
Marist |
Center |
| Katherine Tijerina |
Marist |
Utility |
| Kelsey Snelgar |
St. Francis Brooklyn |
Attack |
| Diana Fernandez |
Siena |
Attack |
| Sophia Torres |
Siena |
Defense |
| Isabel French |
Virginia Military Institute |
Goalkeeper |
| Erica Hardy |
Wagner |
Attack |
| Water Polo Preseason Poll |
| Place |
Institution |
Points |
| 1. |
Wagner (7) |
63 |
| 2. |
Marist (1) |
57 |
| 3. |
Iona |
43 |
| 4. |
Virginia Military Institute |
36 |
| 5. |
Villanova |
29 |
| 6. |
St. Francis Brooklyn |
24 |
| 7. |
Siena |
23 |
| 8. |
La Salle |
13 |
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 38th year of competition during the 2018-19 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter's University, and Siena College.