Collegiate Water Polo Association Releases 2021 Women’s Division I All-Conference Team

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Madison O’Reilly (Sr., Villanova, Pa./The Episcopal Academy) and Dr. Marcelo Leonardi of the University of Michigan claim Most Valuable Player and Coach of the Year honors, while Saint Francis University’s Emese Szucs (Fr., Budapest, Hungary) takes Rookie of the Year accolades to headline the 2021 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division I All-Conference Team.

Selected based on nominations and votes by the head coaches of the league’s Division I institutions (Bucknell University, Michigan, Mount St. Mary’s University, Saint Francis), the All-Conference Team honors the 16 best players (14 field players, two goalies) in the majority opinion of the coaches.  The list is larger compared to past year’s as a tie occurred for the final position on the Second Team.

The 2021 MVP, O’Reilly continues a string of success as the two-time All-Conference First Team selection (2019, 2021) becomes the ninth Wolverines’ student-athlete to claim league MVP accolades by joining Maddy Steere (2017 – CWPA Division I), Allison Skaggs (2017 – CWPA Division I), Ali Thomason (2016 – CWPA Division I), Kiki Golden (2012 – CWPA Western Division), Leah Robertson (2010 – CWPA Western Division), Julie Hyrne (2009 – CWPA Western Division; 2008 – CWPA Western Division), Shana Welch (2007 – CWPA Western Division; 2006 – CWPA Western Division; 2005  – CWPA Western Division) and Olympian Betsey Armstrong (2004 – CWPA Western Division; 2003 – CWPA Southern Division) dating back to the start of women’s NCAA competition in 2001.  Overall, Michigan has claimed 13 league/division MVP accolades since the 2001 season.  An All-Conference team was not selected in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic prematurely terminating the season.

Leonardi, who led Michigan to the program’s fifth consecutive and 10th overall CWPA Championship over the weekend at home in Canham Natatorium, earns his inaugural Coach of the Year nod.  The award marks the sixth honor bestowed on a Wolverines’ leader since 2001 as former head coach/current Connecticut College head coach Matt Anderson was voted the Western Region Coach of the Year in 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Szucs’ selection as Rookie of the Year is the inaugural honor bestowed on a Red Flash athlete/coach as she becomes the first SFU recipient of a Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and/or Coach of the Year accolade.  Her selection follows in the line of previous Rookie of the Year recipients Megan Donahue (2003 – Princeton University), Shana Welch (2004 – Michigan), Bronwen Knox (2005 – Hartwick College), Aubrey Rowe (Bucknell – 2006), Kirsten Hudson (Hartwick – 2007), Jessica McKee (Hartwick – 2008), Devan Kennifer (Harvard University – 2009), Lily Martinez (Hartwick – 2010), Kate Woods (Brown University – 2011), Taylor Barnett (Bucknell – 2012), Ashleigh Johnson (Princeton – 2013), Melissa Balding (Harvard – 2014), Kelly Matthews (Indiana University – 2015), Kim Johnson (Michigan – 2016), Lena Kotanchyan (Hartwick – 2017), Marissa Webb (Princeton – 2018) and Abby Andrews (Michigan – 2019).

On the All-Conference team, each institution received at least two athletes with Michigan (six), Bucknell (four), Saint Francis (four) and Mount St. Mary’s (two) accounting for the 16 honored players.

O’Reilly is joined on the All-Conference team by fellow Wolverines’ field players Sofie Pontre (Sr., Perth, Western Australia/Santa Maria College) and Erin Neustrom (Jr., Moraga, Calif./Campolindo) along with goalie Heidi Ritner (Gr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) on the First Team, while Anne Rankin (So., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) and Emily Ritner (Sr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) register Second Team status.  The award marks the second All-Conference laurel for Ritner who claimed First Team status in 2019.

The remainder of the First Team positions belong to league runner-up Bucknell as the Bison place Ally Furano (Sr., Stamford, Conn./The Ursuline School (N.Y.)), Paige Furano (Jr., Stamford, Conn./The Ursuline School (N.Y.)) and Kali Hyham (Sr., Garden Grove, Calif./Huntington Beach) on the squad.  The recognition marks the second All-Conference award for both Ally Furano (2019 First Team) and Hyham (2019 Second Team).  Marcela Herrera (Sr., Windamere, Fla./Olympia) completes the Bucknell award recipients as she obtains Second Team rank.

Saint Francis earns the program’s first-ever All-Conference awards as Szucs, Taylor Halbauer (So., Edmonton, Alberta/Mother Margaret Mary), Addison Williams (So., Clovis, Calif./Sanger) and goalie Rosalinda Rivera (Jr., Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) make the Second Team, while first-year varsity program Mount St. Mary’s also earns its first All-Conference decorations with Emily Van Kerckhove (Fr., Montgomery, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) and Ana Luisa Cotta (Fr., Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips) also rating among the league’s best athletes for the 2021 season.