BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Gabriele Simonti (Jr., Florence, Italy/Giuseppe Peano) of No. 15-ranked George Washington University posted 11 field blocks, four steals, eight goals and an assist over four games at the 2019 Princeton University Invitational to earn recognition as the September 16 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Defensive Player of the Week.
A transfer from Orange Coast Community College,Simonti keyed the Colonials to a 3-1 record at the invitational as GW downed Santa Clara University (15-7 W), No. 19 Brown University (10-7 W) and host/No. 12 Princeton (13-12 W) with a loss to No. 17 St. Francis College Brooklyn (10-6 L).
He recorded at least one field block in each games, including a pair versus Brown, but saved his best performance until the weekend and tournament finale on September 15 against Princeton.
In a rematch of a 2018 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship play-in game between the MAWPC Champion Colonials and Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Champion Tigers, Simonti broke the GW single-game field block record with seven to accompany two steals, an assist and four goals in a one-score victory against Princeton.
Earlier in the weekend, he scored once with a field block and a steal versus Santa Clara prior to pumping in a goal with a steal, a field block and an ejection drawn against St. Francis Brooklyn. Further, he found the back of the net twice with an ejection drawn in helping to dispatch Brown.
September 16 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Defensive Player of the Week Honor Roll: Jack Otto (Bucknell University); Bailey O’Mara (Fordham University); Jacob Hollo (Gannon University); Daniel Domotor (La Salle University); Julen Alonso (Salem University)
