BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — 20 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) and Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) athletes are among 73 selections to the 2024 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Division I All-America team.
Divided into eight First Team, eight Second Team, eight Third Team and 49 Honorable Mention honorees, the ACWPC Division I All-America team is selected based on nominations and voting by the head coaches of each Division I varsity program.
Leading the way are a pair of coaches as head coach Brian Bacharach and assistant coach Ilija Djuretic of Fordham University are respectively recognized as the Division I National Coach and Assistant Coach of the Year. The award marks the first time an institution outside of California has been recognized with either honor since their inception by the ACWPC.
In the history of men’s water polo, the University of Southern California (Jovan Vavic – 2018, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2005, 2003, 1998; John Williams – 1998), the University of California-Los Angeles (Adam Wright – 2017, 2014, 2015, 2020; Adam Krikorian – 2004; Guy Baker – 1999, 1996, 1995, 1991), Stanford University (John Vargas – 2019; Dante Dettamanti – 2001, 1994, 1993, 1986, 1985, 1984), the University of California (Kirk Everist – 2016, 2006, 2021, 2022, 2023; Steve Heaston – 1992, 1990; Pete Cutino – 1988, 1987, 1983), Pepperdine University (Terry Schroeder – 1997), the University of California-Irvine (Ed Newland – 1989, 1985, 1982), University of the Pacific (James Graham – 2013) and the University of California-San Diego (Denny Harper – 2000) previously earned the Division I Head Coach of the Year reward. Note, a Coach of the Year was not selected in either 2002 or 2007. UCLA assistant coach Jason Falitz claimed the inaugural Division I Assistant Coach of the Year award in 2023.
Luca Provenziani (Fr., Rome, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Statale Isaaco Newton) of Fordham leads the way among athletes from East Coast institutions as he garners First Team recognition.
Roko Pozaric (Sr., Zagreb, Croatia/Gimnazija Titusa Brezovackog) of Princeton University earns Second Team recognition in 2024 to pick up his fourth All-America nod following prior First (2023), Second (2022) and Honorable Mention (2021) laurels.
Brown University’s Ilias Stothart (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard Westlake) – who previously earned Honorable Mention status in 2022 and 2023 – is joined on the Third Team by George Papanikolaou (Sr., Athens, Greece/Athens College) and goalkeeper Thomas Lercari (Sr., Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes) of Fordham along with Harvard University’s James Rozolis-Hill (Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach) and Princeton’s Vladan Mitrovic (Sr., Novi Sad, Serbia/Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj). Papanikolaou claims his fourth All-America award following earlier Honorable Mention (2021, 2022) and Third Team (2023) status, while Lercari is a first-time honoree. Rozolis-Hill receives his third All-America citation following prior Honorable Mention notice in 2022 and 2023, while Mitrovic also becomes a three-time All-America honoree with prior Honorable Mention (2022) and Third Team (2023) acknowledgements.
13 MAWPC/NWPC athletes are listed among the ACWPC’s Honorable Mention recipients.
Bucknell’s Aleksa Stefanovic (Jr., Belgrade, Serbia/“Sportium” Sportska Gimnazija) and Iona University’s Luksa Vlasic (Sr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) both record their third Honorable Mention All-America nods (2022, 2023, 2024) with the United States Naval Academy’s Kiefer Black (So., San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) and Princeton goalkeeper Kristof Kovacs (So., Hódmezovásárhely, Hungary/Bethlen Gábor Reformed) collecting their second Honorable Mention (2023, 2024) awards.
Iona’s Rastko Jevdjovic (Jr., Belgrade, Serbia/Third Belgrade Grammar School), Bucknell’s Matt Ryckman (Sr., Caracas, Venezuela/Loomis Chaffee (Conn.)), Fordham’s Andras Toth (Fr., Pecs, Hungary/PTE Babits Gyakorlo Gimnazium) and Lucas Nieto Jasny (Sr., Barcelona, Spain/Col-legi Closa), Long Island University’s Josep Jodra Munoz (Sr., Barcelona, Spain/Closa) and Harvard’s Jack Burghardt (So., Manhattan Beach, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) and Dean Strauser (Fr., Calabasas, Calif./Harvard Westlake) join Mate Tymcyna (So., Eger, Heves, Hungary/Neumann Janos Gimnazium) and goalkeeper Dimitrios Kratimenos (Fr., Athens, Greece/Costeas Geitonas School) of Brown complete the Honorable Mention All-America list.
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