POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (Apr. 10, 2026) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) has announced the 2026 Water Polo All-MAAC Teams and Major Awards, as voted on by the leagues nine head coaches.
2026 MAAC Regular Season Champions, Marist University led major award winners with a league-most two honorees, while both Marist and Wagner College, placed a league-leading four student-athletes each to All-MAAC Teams.
Villanova’s sophomore attacker, Riley Hull, was named 2026 Offensive Players of the Year. Hull recorded 82 goals and 41 assists during her stellar season. She earned 93 exclusions drawn, 19 penalties drawn, and had 44 steals, while averaging four major fouls drawn per game and shooting at 53 percent. Hull was named to the All-MAAC First Team this season, after earning Second Team honors last year and winning 2025 Rookie of the Year recognition. Additionally, she won MAAC Offensive Player of the Week honors on March 11.
2026 Co-Defensive Player of the Years were Lola Trujillo of Iona and Ana Arias Perez of Wagner. A senior utility for Iona, Trujillo had 59 steals and 11 field blocks in 2026. She was 84-10 on sprint offs additionally. Trujillo added 47 goals and 28 assists for a total of 75 points offensively. She was a two-time MAAC weekly award recipient in 2026, winning one Offensive Player of the Week and one Defensive Player of the Week. Wagner’s junior attacker Perez finished her 2026 regular season with 30 goals, 38 assists, 84 shots, 35 steals, 14 earned exclusions, and three field blocks. She was named MAAC Offensive Player of the Week on March 18. Moreover, the duo of Trujillo and Perez were each voted to the All-MAAC Second Team.
Ines Sanchez of Marist was chosen as the inaugural Goalkeeper of the Year and earned a spot on the All-MAAC First Team. Sanchez had a phenomenal year for the Red Foxes, helping lead the program to a 24-5 overall record and a perfect 8-0 mark in conference play. In 28 matches, she recorded 266 saves on 380 shots for a career best save percentage of 70 percent. Along with great performances in goal, Sanchez also recorded 14 assists, 25 steals, and her first career goal. She also secured a league-most, five MAAC Defensive Player of the Week awards this season.
La Salle’s freshman attacker, Nadya Azzopardi, was selected as the 2026 Rookie of the Year. In 17 games played this season, Azzopardi recorded a team-high 53 goals with 25 assists, the third most on the team. She led the team with 100 shots and posted a team-best shot percentage (53%). In MAAC play, Azzopardi scored 26 goals and 12 assists, while averaging 3.3 goals and 1.5 assists in eight MAAC games. She also added 10 steals on the season and nine swim off wins. Lastly, Azzopardi was the only freshman to be named to one of the top two All-MAAC lineups, claiming a spot on the All-MAAC Second Team and she was a two-time Rookie of the Week winner and one time Offensive Player of the Week honoree this season.
The 2026 Coach of the Year award went to Chris Vidale of Marist for the first time in his 10 year tenure. Vidale had another amazing season leading the Marist Red Foxes to an overall record of 24-5 and a perfect 8-0 conference record, earning a first place finish in the MAAC and the 2026 Regular Season Championship. This season marked the second straight year under his leadership that Marist won at least 24 games, with his squad also qualifying for the postseason field for the ninth consecutive season with him at the helm.
The full list of All-MAAC Teams and major awards winners are below.
| 2026 MAAC Water Polo Major Awards |
| Award |
Name |
School |
| Offensive Player of the Year |
Riley Hull |
Villanova |
| Co-Defensive Players of the Year |
Lola Trujillo |
Iona |
| Ana Arias Perez |
Wagner |
| Goalkeeper of the Year |
Ines Sanchez |
Marist |
| Rookie of the Year |
Nadya Azzopardi |
La Salle |
| Coach of the Year |
Chris Vidale |
Marist |
| All-MAAC First Team |
| Name |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Martina Bonet Saez |
Jr. |
Attacker |
La Salle |
| Kendell De Beer |
Jr. |
Attacker |
Marist |
| Anita Radaelli |
Jr. |
Attacker |
Marist |
| Catherine Williamson |
Jr. |
Attacker |
Siena |
| Riley Hull |
So. |
Attacker |
Villanova |
| Magali Ogg |
Sr. |
Attacker |
Wagner |
| Ines Sanchez |
Sr. |
Goalkeeper |
Marist |
| All-MAAC Second Team |
| Name |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Sadie Sallas |
Sr. |
Center |
Iona |
| Lola Trujillo |
Sr. |
Utility |
Iona |
| Nadya Azzopardi |
Fr. |
Attacker |
La Salle |
| Paige Naegle |
Sr. |
Utility |
Marist |
| Ella Mattocks |
Sr. |
Center |
Villanova |
| Ana Arias Perez |
Jr. |
Attacker |
Wagner |
| Francesca Sena |
Sr. |
Goalkeeper |
Wagner |
| All-MAAC Third Team |
| Name |
Class |
Position |
School |
| Grace Goldhammer |
So. |
Attacker |
Iona |
| Samara Eschleman |
Jr. |
Center |
La Salle |
| Julia Allen |
R-Fr. |
Utility |
LIU |
| Elena Grigoriou |
Fr. |
Utility |
LIU |
| Lotte Schreurs |
Fr. |
Center |
Mount St. Mary's |
| Layla Canales |
So. |
Attacker |
Villanova |
| Catherine Mentz |
Jr. |
Center |
Wagner |
| Gracin Kerry |
Sr. |
Goalkeeper |
Villanova |
The 2026 MAAC Water Polo Championship will take place April 11-12, 2026. The four-team, single-elimination championship will be hosted by Marist University in Poughkeepsie, NY. Marist has hosted the Water Polo Championship annually since 2003. For all information regarding the 2026 MAAC Water Polo Championship, please visit
maacsports.com/wp.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 13 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 45th year of competition during the 2025-26 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius University, Fairfield University, Iona University, Manhattan University, Marist University, Merrimack College, Mount St. Mary’s University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Sacred Heart University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena University.
Stay up to date with the MAAC on social media by following @MAACSports on
X,
Facebook,
Instagram and LinkedIn or visit
MAACSports.com for all the latest MAAC news.