BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Fordham University’s George Papanikolaou (Jr., Athens, Greece/Athens College) and head coach Brian Bacharach along with the United States Naval Academy’s Kiefer Black (Fr., San Diego, Calif./Steele Canyon) are honored as the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Most Valuable Player, Coach and Rookie of the Year, respectively, as the 2023 MAWPC All-Conference Team is released by the league office based on a vote of the league’s seven head coaches.
A total of 14 athletes are recognized as six field players and a goalkeeper garnered First and Second honors to accompany the three major awards.
The 2021 Rookie of the Year and a prior 2021 and 2022 First Team honoree, Papanikolaou leads the First Team by joining teammate/2022 Honorable Mention selection Luca Silvestri (Jr., Napoli, Italy/Istituto Comprensvo Sacro Cuore (Westcliff Universtiy)) on the 2023 First Team. A first-time selection, Black joins goalkeeper/2022 Honorable Mention pick Caden Capobianco (Sr., Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach) as the Naval Academy also earns a pair of First Team nods.
2021 Second Team selection Hasan Mogultay (Jr., Istanbul, Turkey/Istek Acibadem Anatolian) of Bucknell University, 2021 Second Team and Winter 2021 Second Team honoree Viktor Jovanovic (Sr., Calgary, Alberta/E.P. Scarlett) of George Washington University and 2022 Second Team pick Laszlo Strasser (So., Budapest, Hungary/Scheiber Sandor Primary School and Colleges) of Wagner College complete the First Team.
On the Second Team, 2021 and 2022 MAWPC All-Conference Second Team goalkeeper Luca Castorina (Sr., Catania, Italy/Lico Galileo Galilel) of George Washington earns his third award. Fordham’s Jacopo Parrella (Jr., Naples, Italy/Umberto I State Classical) claims his second All-Conference award after taking 2021 First Team accolades.
A quintet of first team selections complete the All-Conference Second Team as George Washington’s Mateus Stellet (Gr., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/STUCOM Centre d’Estudis), Johns Hopkins University’s Owen Bartlett (Fr., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor), Mount St. Mary’s University’s Chrysostomos Valavanis (So., Athens, Greece/Leonteio Lykeio Neas Smirnis), Bucknell’s Walker Butler (Sr., Blue Bell, Pa./Germantown Academy) and Navy’s Aiden Day (Fr., Oceanside, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) claim their inaugural honors from the league’s coaches.
Among the individual awards, Bacharach earns his fourth Coach of the Year recognition following prior honors in 2022 (MAWPC), 2021 (MAWPC-East Region) and 2019 (MAWPC-East Region with then co-head coach Bill Harris).
| 2023 All-Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference | |
| Most Valuable Player: | George Papanikolaou (Fordham University) |
| Rookie of the Year: | Kiefer Black (U.S. Naval Academy) |
| Coach of the Year: | Brian Bacharach (Fordham University) |
| First Team | |
| Caden Capobianco (Goalkeeper) | U.S. Naval Academy |
| Kiefer Black | U.S. Naval Academy |
| George Papanikolaou | Fordham University |
| Luca Silvestri | Fordham University |
| Hasan Mogultay | Bucknell University |
| Viktor Jovanovic | George Washington University |
| Laszlo Strasser | Wagner College |
| Second Team | |
| Luca Castrorina (Goalkeeper) | George Washington University |
| Mateus Stellet | George Washington University |
| Walker Butler | Bucknell University |
| Jacopo Parrella | Fordham University |
| Owen Bartlett | Johns Hopkins University |
| Chrysostomos Valavanis | Mount St. Mary’s University |
| Aiden Day | U.S. Naval Academy |
