July 2, 2007
DAVIS, Calif. - A total of 13 UC Davis student-athletes - seven men, six women - were named to their respective 2006-07 Western Water Polo Association All-Academic teams, it was announced by that conference Monday.
To qualify for a WWPA All-Academic team, a student-athlete must rank among the top 10 players in minutes played, carry a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher and be a full-time student who has completed a minimum of one semester or two quarters at his/her member institution.
Honored from the Aggie men's team, which competed during the fall of 2006, are senior Kevin Bacharach, sophomore Adam Lindsay, junior Matt MacLachlan, sophomore Grant Muenter, junior Joe Smith, junior Jesse Tweed and senior David Welch. Welch, Muenter, MacLachlan and Tweed earlier were selected to the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-Academic team. Welch, who posted a 3.76 grade-point average in exercise biology, went on to garner ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII distinction.
Furthermore, the entire UC Davis men's team was a co-winner of the university's Lysle Leach Award for compiling the highest team GPA during the previous year. The water polo team tied the men's swimming & diving team for that honor.
Representing the Aggie women's water polo team on the WWPA All-Academic squad are freshman
Ashley Chandler, sophomore Linsday Kiyama, senior Amber Korner, junior Casie Mota, senior Katherine O'Rourke and junior Madeline Stephenson. Chandler, Kiyama, Korner, Mota, Stephenson and freshman
Heidi Kucera previously earned ACWPC All-Academic accolades. Kiyama posted her team's highest GPA, tallying a 3.68 in biochemistry and molecular biology.
The UC Davis women went 25-7 in 2007, advanced to the WWPA title game and finished at No. 10 in the final national coaches' poll.
