Nov. 15, 2016

DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis sophomore attacker Ido Goldschmidt captured Western Water Polo Association Player of the Year honors and joined fellow Aggie second-year Sasa Antunovic on the first team as the conference announced its year-end awards Tuesday morning. Sophomore Marcus Anderson and junior Spencer Creed garnered second-team distinction, junior Cory Laidig won honorable mention, and Yurii Hanley made the WWPA All-Freshman Team. Goldschmidt, a lefty attacker from Herzliya, Israel, leads the eighth-ranked Aggies with 43 goals, 37 assists and 80 total points, while adding 26 steals and 23 drawn exclusions to his offensive contributions. He becomes the fourth Aggie in program history to earn WWPA Player of the Year, along with Mike McGee (2007), Bernie Rogers (2013) and Sean Grab (2015). Goldschmidt has performed eight hat tricks in 26 games, including four straight from September 24 to October 1. With 76 career assists, he has already tied Matt Vowell for fourth on the school career list. Antunovic, a utility from Korcula, Croatia, picks up his second first-team All-WWPA nod. He ranks just behind Goldschmidt for the team goals lead with 42, while also ranking second on UC Davis in assists (25), total points (67) and steals (37). Antunovic has posted five hat tricks this season, including a 6-for-6 outburst at Fresno Pacific that helped him claim Kap7/WWPA Player of the Week plaudits for the week of Oct. 19. He particularly rose to the occasion in conference game, tallying 15 goals, nine assists and 11 steals during the six WWPA contests. Both Goldschmidt and Antunovic are returning ACWPC All-America honorable mentions. Anderson, an attacker from San Anselmo, California, has enjoyed a breakout season in 2016. His 41 goals rank third on the team just behind Goldschmidt and Antunovic, while his .547 shooting percentage puts him second behind Laidig for the Aggie lead. The speedy Anderson has four hat tricks in 2016, including four-goal performances in WWPA games against Air Force (Oct. 21) and Loyola Marymount (Nov. 3). Creed, originally from Walnut Creek, California, ranks fourth in the conference in saves (207) and second among WWPA goalies in steals (41) in his third full season as the starter. He has posted double-digit blocks on seven occasions, including a season-best 14 against St. Francis Brooklyn in the Bruno Classic (Sept. 4) and 13 at home against San Jose State in the Aggie Roundup (Sept. 18). Creed also has enjoyed nine shutout quarters during 2016, while his nine steals at Cal Baptist (Oct. 6) established a school record. A former WWPA Freshman of the Year, the West Hills-native Laidig earned his first spot on an all-conference squad thanks to his all-around contributions on the stat sheet: 28 goals, 24 assists, a team-leading .609 shooting percentage, 33 steals, 19 drawn exclusions and seven field blocks. Hanley, a rookie out of Orinda, California, owns a jack-of-all-trades profile similar to Laidig on the Aggie roster. In 26 games thus far, he has scored 17 goals with 22 assists, 20 steals and a team-high 13 field blocks. Hanley enjoyed two of his best games against George Washington: a season-high four assists in the Bruno Classic meeting on Sept. 4, then a season-best four goals in the Rodeo rematch on October 23. UC Davis went undefeated in WWPA play with a 6-0 record -- extending its streak of conference wins to 15 -- to earn the top seed in this weekend's conference championship tournament. The Aggies have a first-round bye through Friday's competition, and will await the lowest-seeded advancing team in Saturday's 11:15 a.m. semifinal. 2016 ALL-WESTERN WATER POLO ASSOCIATIONFIRST TEAM
Sasa Antunovic - UC Davis (Utility, So.)
Ido Goldschmidt - UC Davis (Attacker, So.)
Dayne Jagga - Loyola Marymount (Center, So.)
Arman Momdzhyan - UC San Diego (Utility, Jr.)
Brent Teraoka - Cal Baptist (Driver, Sr.)
Riley Thomas - Air Force (Utility, Jr.)
Joseph Moorman - Cal Baptist (Goalkeeper, Sr.) SECOND TEAM
Nick Alexander - UC San Diego (Utility, Sr.)
Marcus Anderson - UC Davis (Attacker, So.)
Jon Beck - Loyola Marymount (Utility, Sr.)
Graham McClone - Santa Clara (Driver, Sr.)
David Maes - Fresno Pacific (Driver, Sr.)
Tanner Shore - Cal Baptist (Utility, So.)
Spencer Creed - UC Davis (Goalkeeper, Jr.) HONORABLE MENTION
Daniel Arellano - Loyola Marymount (Attacker, So.)
Alex Athimaritis - Loyola Marymount (Utility, Fr.)
Mac Carey - Santa Clara (Utility, Fr.)
Eric Curia - Air Force (Utility, Sr.)
Cory Laidig - UC Davis (Attacker, Jr.)
Cole Martinez - UC San Diego (Utility, So.)
Andrew Moore - UC San Diego (Utility, Sr.)
Jack Turner - UC San Diego (Goalkeeper, So.) ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Luke Andres - Air Force (Attacker) Alex Athimaritis - Loyola Marymount (Utility) Mac Carey - Santa Clara (Utility) Yurii Hanley - UC Davis (Attacker) Logan Mena - Cal Baptist (2-Meters) Skyler Munatones - UC San Diego (Utility) Keaton Fox - Santa Clara (Goalkeeper) WWPA PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ido Goldschmidt, UC Davis WWPA FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Skyler Munatones, UC San Diego