June 1, 2007
DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis senior center Katherine O'Rourke earned Division I All-America honorable mention by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC), it was announced by Executive Director Mike Lewis Friday. She was the only Aggie player to earn such honors this year, following up her third-team selection in 2006.
This is the second major award for the Solana Beach, Calif. native this week. O'Rourke was announced as the university's Heitman Award recipient as the outstanding female athlete of the year on Wednesday, an honor she will formally receive at the annual Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame and Student-Athlete Awards Banquet on Saturday.
Furthermore, she won her third straight All-Western Water Polo Association award in April - a string that includes conference MVP honors in 2006.
O'Rourke led UC Davis with a career-high 57 goals and shot at a .613 success rate. She also posted 24 steals, drew 52 exclusions plus seven five-meter fouls. In one of her best games of her senior year, O'Rourke scored four goals with two steals against Loyola Maymount. That performance helped land her the first of two WWPA Player of the Week awards, while the victory helped propel the Aggies to the top seed at the conference championships.
O'Rourke finished her career among the Aggies' all-time leaders in goals (154), shooting percentage (.526), minutes played (2,685), steals (122) and drawn exclusions (150). In her four years, the Aggies went 88-47, including a 25-7 ledger in 2007.
She and current assistant coach Tiffany Hodgens are the only Aggies to have captured D-I All-America honors. Hodgens won third-team honors in 2001, then garnered honorable mention in 2004.
ACWPC DIVISION I ALL-AMERICA TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
Kelly Rulon, UCLA
Ericka Figge, USC
Katie Hansen, Stanford
Emily Feher, UCLA
Kami Craig, USC
Jillian Kraus, UCLA
Christina Hewko, Stanford
SECOND TEAM
Courtney Mathewson, UCLA
Meridith McColl, Stanford
Patty Cardenas, USC
Alison Gregorka, Stanford
Kristy Bagnall, Hawai'i
Brittany Hayes, USC
Stacy Werner, San Diego State
THIRD TEAM
Martine DeNooy, Hawai'i
Kacy Kunkel, UCLA
Stacia Peterson, Loyola Marymount
Kelly Mason, Hawai'i
Lauren Silver, Stanford
Anna Gonzalez, San Diego State
Beth Harberts, San Jose State
HONORABLE MENTION
Kristen Hudson, Hartwick
Robynn Kaake, UC Irvine
Katherine O'Rourke, UC Davis
Addison Doud, Arizona State
Jenna Schuster, San Diego State
Marina Canetti, Long Beach State
Elsie Windes, California
Gabrielle Domanic, UCLA
Allison Brooks, Cal State Northridge
Shana Welch, Michigan
Elyse Colgan, Princeton
Brittany Rowe, UCLA
Elizabeth Ballasone, Brown
