DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis sophomore
Nir Gross became the second Aggie in as many seasons to earn All-America second team honors, while junior goalkeeper
Jonah Addington was named to the honorable mention squad, as the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches named its 2019 Division I men's All-America squads on Tuesday morning.
Gross follows in the footsteps of former teammate
Ido Goldschmidt, the program's first four-time All-American who became the first UC Davis men's water polo player to earn higher than third-team status with his own second-team nod in 2018.
Addington, who became the first Aggie goalkeeper to earn All-America honors since Kevin Peat was named to the honorable mention team in 2011, picks up his first All-America honor, giving the Aggies multiple All-Americans for the first time since 2015 when Goldschmidt, Sean Grab, and Sasa Antunovic, were all named to the honorable mention team.
Nominated and voted on by head coaches across the nation, the honors are divided into seven-member (six field players, one goalkeeper) first, second, and third teams, with 43 student-athletes collecting honorable mention honors. A total of 22 institutions garnered at least one selection this season, with UC Davis standing as one of 17 schools to collect multiple honorees.
Gross, a first-team All-Western Water Polo Association selection led UC Davis with 58 goals and tied for the team lead with 61 points, finishing with 116 shots and a .500 shooting percentage to go with an average of 4.83 shots per game. He also drew 40 exclusions, which ranked second on the team, and led the team in both 6-on-5 goals (14) and five-meter goals (seven).
The native of Hod Hasharon, Israel, scored in all but three of the Aggies' 24 matches, including a team-high 10 hat tricks and a career-high six goals in a win over then-No. 13 Loyola Marymount on Sept. 28. He also added four more goals to his total in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal clash with then-No. 4 Pepperdine, finishing with a score in each of his final nine contests of the season.
He finished seventh in the league in goals and fourth in goals per game (2.42).
Addington was an All-WWPA second team honoree and was named the Most Valuable Player of the WWPA Tournament after pacing a defense that limited UC San Diego to just 5-of-25 shooting while making 14 saves himself en route to the title, finishing with 32 saves and a .653 save percentage of the tournament.
The Hanford, Calif., native finished second among WWPA regulars with a 9.94 goals against average, tied for third with 237 saves, second with 1.78 steals per game, and third with 10.30 saves per contest. In leading the Aggies to a league-low 49 goals allowed during the conference season, Addington posted a league-best 7.23 goals against average in seven WWPA matches, finishing with 74 saves and a .612 save percentage.
UC Davis won its third WWPA title in the last four seasons en route to a 16-8 overall record and a 7-0 league finish during the regular season, making its seventh all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Under the direction of 2019 WWPA Co-Coach of the Year
Daniel Leyson, the Child and Meisel Families Director of Men's Water Polo, the Aggies completed an unbeaten run through the league for the fifth time in seven seasons, winning their final nine contests heading into the postseason.
Finishing the year ranked No. 9 in the nation, UC Davis posted its fourth-straight top-10 finish in the final Collegiate Water Polo Association poll and its highest since ending the 2017 campaign at No. 8. The Aggies posted eight victories over top-20 teams, and played 18 of their 24 games against teams either ranked or receiving votes, including a historic upset of then-No. 5 California in overtime on Sept. 14 — their first win over the Golden Bears in more than four decades and a win over their highest-ranked opponent since 2006.
2019 ACWPC MEN'S WATER POLO DIVISION I ALL-AMERICANS
Player of the Year: Ben Hallock, Stanford
Coach of the Year: John Vargas, Stanford
First Team
Rade Joksimovic, Bucknell
Ben Hallock, Stanford
Tyler Adramson, Stanford
Ivan Gvozdanovic, UC Santa Barbara
Felix Broyzna-Vilim, UCLA
Luke Pavillar, Pacific
Jacob Mercp, USC
Alex Wolf, UCLA (GK)
Second Team
Balazs Kosa, Pepperdine
Chris Dilworth, Pepperdine
Bennett Williams, Stanford
Nir Gross, UC Davis
Jordan Hoover, California
Engin Ege Colak, Pacific
Hannes Daub, USC
Nicholas Porte, USC (GK)
Third Team
Austin Stewart, Long Beach State
Al Rossman, Stanford
Quinn Woodhead, Stanford
Jake Cavano, UCLA
Tommy Gruwell, UCLA
Safak Simsek, California
Marin Dasi, USC
Danny Roland, UC Santa Barbara (GK)
Honorable Mention
Armen Deirmenjin, Brown
James Theygesen, Brown
Hudson Rawlings, Brown
Logan Schofield, Bucknell
Logan Mena, California Baptist
Jake Miller-Tolt, Fordham
Dimitris Koukias, Fordham
Charlie Owens, Harvard
Dennis Blyashov, Harvard
Austin Sechrest, Harvard
Daniel Domotor, La Salle
Rafael Real Vergara, Long Beach State
Blazo Mitrovic, Loyola Marymount
Marko Asic, Pepperdine
Sean Thomas, Pepperdine
Mate Toth, Pepperdine
Finn Pardn, San Jose State
Mac Carey, Santa Clara
Shane Hughes, Santa Clara
Dylan Woodhead, Stanford
Andras Levai, George Washington
Andrew Mavis, George Washington
Leo Yuno, UC Santa Barbara
Jacob Halle, UC Santa Barbara
Nathan Puentes, UC Santa Barbara
Sam Nangle, UC Santa Barbara
Nikos Papanikolaou, California
Jeremie Cot, Pacific
Jake Ehrhard, USC
Sam Slobodie, USC
Isaac Salinas, US Naval Academy
Oliver Fodor, Wagner College
Bailey O'Mara, Fordham (GK)
Noah Hodge, Harvard (GK)
Yahav Fire, San Jose State (GK)
Andrew Chun, Stanford (GK)
Jonah Addington, UC Davis (GK)
Adrian Weinberg, California (GK)
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, and among the top 15 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.
AGGIE EVO
Launched in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.
MARYA WELCH INITIATIVE
Named after the former physical education instructor, coach and Dean of Women who founded women's sports on the campus 25 years before the passage of Title IX, the Marya Welch Initiative for Women's Athletics provides comprehensive support for UC Davis' 16 women's athletics programs. Through the support of the Marya Welch Initiative and its group members, student-athletes are provided the best possible opportunity to succeed inside the classroom, and in competition, through special project gifts and by increasing visibility and participation at women's events throughout the year. All gifts to the Marya Welch Initiative are matched 1:1, doubling the impact on our women's programs. Visit https://give.ucdavis.edu/ATHG/324041 for more information.
