13 Collegiate Water Polo Association Athletes Earn Spots on 2025 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches Division III All-America Team

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — 13 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) athletes are among 33 selections to the 2025 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Division III All-America team.

Divided into eight First Team, eight Second Team and 17 Honorable Mention honorees, the ACWPC Division III All-America team is selected based on nominations and voting by the head coaches of each Division III varsity program.

CWPA Division III Champion Augustana College, CWPA Division III Championship runner-up Washington & Jefferson College and Austin College are tied for the most All-America nods in the league with three, while Penn State Behrend (two), Macalester College and Connecticut College also garnered selections.

A trio of CWPA athletes claim Second Team All-America recognition as Augustana’s Charlotte Newport (Sr., Baytown, Texas/Ross S. Sterling), Washington & Jefferson’s Emma Halle (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and Connecticut’s Emma Luna (Jr., Wahiawa, Hawaii/Punahou School) comprise nearly half of the squad. Luna earns her inaugural All-America nod, while Newport acquires her third Second Team accolade (2023 Second Team, 2024 Second Team) and Halle notches her second All-America recognition (2024 Honorable Mention).

10 CWPA athletes are among the 17 Honorable Mention laurels handed out with goalkeepers Lizzie Pelzman (Sr., Roseville, Calif./Roseville) of Augustana and Allie Cunningham (Sr., Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) of Washington & Jefferson leading the way. The netminders are joined by Austin trio Ashley Chand (Sr., Southlake, Texas/Southlake), Bianca Gallegos (Jr., Albuquerque, N.M./Manzano) and Joslyn Dimitri (So., Couer d’Alene, Idaho/Couer d’Alene); Penn State Behrend duo Darragh Martin (Jr., Green Lane, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) and Makenzie Rickerd (So., Rockford, Mich./Rockford); Ocean Akau (Sr., Pana’ewa, Hawaii/Kamehameha) of Augustana; Jess Palmer-Sammons (Jr., Half Moon Bay, Calif./Half Moon Bay) of Macalester; and Washington & Jefferson’s Emmie Ratcliff (Fr., Friendswood, Texas/Friendswood).

The award marks the second All-America nods for Akau (2024 Honorable Mention), Palmer-Sammons (2024 Honorable Mention), Martin (2024 Honorable Mention) and the third for Pelzman (2023 Honorable Mention, 2024 Second Team).

Among individual honors, Washington & Jefferson head coach Nikola Malezanov becomes the third CWPA head coach to win the Division III Coach of the Year honor, while Augustana‘s Peter Ollis garners acknowledgement as the inaugural Division III Assistant Coach of the Year.

Malezanov joins Connecticut’s Matt Anderson (2015), Macalester’s Scott Reed (2017), Whittier College’s Justin Pudwill (2016), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College’s Tim Settem (2006), the University of Redlands’ Tom Whittemore (2004, 2005, 2011), California Lutheran University’s Craig Rond (2007, 2009, 2019, 2021) and the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges’ duo of Alex La (2024) and Alex Rodriguez (2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2023) in claiming Coach of the Year recognition since the creation of the award following the 2004 season.

Since 2005, the mission of the ACWPC is to promote the development and advancement of collegiate water polo. This shall be accomplished by providing its membership with professional education, services, training and a united voice.

ACWPC Division III Coach of the Year (Since 2004)