BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — A trio of Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) athletes garnered All-Tournament honors at the 2022 USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate National Water Polo Championship hosted by Pomona-Pitzer College’s on Saturday-Sunday, May 7-8.
Selected from among the four participating teams (Division III No. 4 Austin College, Division III No. 9 Augustana College, Division III No. 1 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, Division III No. 2 Whittier College), the team feature seven field athletes and one goaltender. Namlhun Jachung of Pomona-Pitzer was named Tournament Most Valuable Player and is joined by teammates Abigail Wiesenthal and Lucie Abele. Whittier College’s Alexys Puche and Natasha Velez were also recognized to complete the representatives from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
The lone selection from Augustana and the team’s goalkeeper, Lizzie Pelzman (Fr., Roseville, Calif./Roseville) recorded a total of 17 saves over two games, including nine in just 24 minutes in the team’s 18-6 semifinal game loss versus Pomona-Pitzer. She then followed up that performance with eight stops against Austin in a 12-9 loss.
Austin College’s Brooke Le (Sr., Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound) and Lexi Wong (Sr., Lantana, Texas/Guyer) were also recognized following a 15-9 loss to Whittier and a 12-9 defeat of Augustana. Le notched a pair of goals versus the Poets of Whittier and contributed two goals an assist and a steal in the Third Place game win over Augustana. Wong added a goal, a drawn exclusion and a steal facing Whittier prior to chipping in a goal, an assist and three drawn exclusions in the victory over the Vikings.
USA Water Polo DIII National Championship All-Tournament Team
Most Valuable Player: Namlhun Jachung, Pomona-Pitzer
Abigail Wiesenthal, Pomona-Pitzer College
Lucie Abele, Pomona-Pitzer College
Alexys Puche, Whittier College
Natasha Velez, Whittier College
Brooke Le, Austin College
Lexi Wong, Austin College
Lizzie Pelzman (Goalie), Augustana College
