Collegiate Water Polo Association Releases 2022 Division III-West All-Conference Team; Le, Fricker & Lawrence Take Most Valuable Player, Rookie & Coach of the Year Awards

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Austin College’s Brooke Le (Sr., Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound) and Mark Lawrence join with Augustana College’s Alyssa Fricker (Fr., Foothill Ranch, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) as the trio garner the Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards, respectively, to lead the 2022 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III-West Region All-Conference Team.

Selected based on nominations and votes by the head coaches of the league’s five Division III-West region institutions (Augustana, Austin, Carthage College, Macalester College, Wittenberg University), the All-Conference Team honors the 16 best players (14 field players, two goalies) in the majority opinion of the coaches.

The second Kangaroos’ athlete to earn Most Valuable Player following teammate/2021 selection Sophie Oliver (Sr., Houston, Texas/Langham Creek), Le is among four Austin athletes to claim First Team recognition following the team’s second CWPA Division III Championship (2021, 2022).

A 2019 First Team and 2021 Second Team pick, Le is joined on the First Team by three-time All-Conference recipients Lexi Wong (Sr., Lantana, Texas/Guyer) (2019 First Team, 2021 First Team) and goalie Valery Piachonkina (Sr., Castro Valley, Calif./Mission San Jose) (2019 Second Team, 2021 First Team) along with 2021 MVP/First-Team member Oliver as the ‘Roos placed four athletes among the region’s seven best athletes.

Fellow 2021 First Team pick Grace McLaughlin (So., Hatfield, Pa./North Penn) of Wittenberg, Eleanor Michaud (Jr., Long Grove, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) of Macalester and Fricker round out the First Team as the trio receive their inaugural All-Conference nods.

For the sake of clarity, the 2019 All-Conference teams were divided into East and West Regions, while the 2020 was lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Due to limited competition in 2021, the East and West All-Conference teams were merged into a single all-encompassing “CWPA Division III” squad.

The entirety of the Second Team is comprised of first-time All-Conference honorees as Riley Waters (Sr., Portland. Ore./St. Mary’s Academy) and goalie Laurel O’Hare (So., Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) of Macalester are joined by Alyssa Ross (So., San Jose, Calif./Leland) and Lauren Olivier (Jr., Indio, Calif./Citrus College) of Austin, Olivia Hillhouse (Fr., Alpharetta, Georgia/Johns Creek) of Augustana, Gladys Contreras (Fr., Chicago, Ill./Mother McAuley) of Carthage and Sierra Bui (Fr., Portland, Ore./David Douglass) of Wittenberg.

Lawrence receives his second Coach of the Year honor in as many seasons as the ‘Roos’ leader previously earned recognition in 2021.