Three Falcons Honored by WWPA
11/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 17, 2010
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -
Three Air Force water polo players were honored by the Western Water Polo Association today, as the league announced its annual awards, voted on by the league's coaches. Senior Bobby Geiger (Buellton, Calif.) was named a second-team All-WWPA selection, classmate Kurt Lemmen (Orlando, Fla.) earned honorable mention all-conference honors and rookie Josh Stedman (Brea, Calif.) was named to the WWPA All-Freshman Team.
Geiger earns the first all-conference honors of his career after leading the Falcons' offense throughout the season. One of the nation's top goal scorers, he heads into this weekend's conference tournament with 62 goals and a total of 75 points. In addition, Geiger ranks fifth all-time in career scoring at the Academy with 277 points and is fourth in career goals with 209.
Meanwhile, Lemmen also earns the first conference accolades of his career as the Falcons' top 2-meter defenseman. In addition to his strong play on defense, Lemmen has scored 32 points, including a career-best 21 goals, this season. Finally, Stedman was honored as an all-freshman team member after finishing the regular season third on the team in goals (22) and points (36).
In addition to releasing its all-conference teams, the WWPA also announced the winners of this year's major awards. Loyola Marymount senior Ikaika Aki was named the league's Player of the Year, Whittier's Erick Gonzalez was named the Newcomer of the Year and Coach of the Year honors were shared by Steve Doten of UC Davis and John Loughran of Loyola Marymount.
Air Force will head to the 2010 Western Water Polo Association Championship, hosted by Santa Clara, this weekend, Nov. 19-21. The seventh-seeded Falcons will face 10th-seed Chapman in the opening game of the tournament, with the winner advancing to play second-seed UC Davis.
2010 Western Water Polo Association Men's Water Polo Honors
Player of the Year: Ikaika Aki (Sr.) - Utility - Loyola Marymount
Newcomer of the Year: Erick Gonzalez (Fr.) - Attack - Whittier
Coach of the Year: Steve Doten - UC Davis/John Loughran - Loyola Marymount
First-Team All-WWPA
Ikaika Aki (Sr., Utility) - Loyola Marymount
Edgaras Asajavicius (Jr., Utility) - Loyola Marymount
Brian Donohoe (So., 2M Defense) - UC San Diego
Stephen Hobbs (Sr., 2M Offense) - Santa Clara
Carlos Martinez (Sr., Utility) - UC Davis
Aaron Salit (Jr., Center) - UC Davis
Andy Stevens (Sr., Goalie) - Loyola Marymount
Second-Team All-WWPA
Ryan Allred (Sr., Driver) - UC San Diego
James Case (Jr., Driver) - Santa Clara
Brian Chong (Jr., Driver) - Claremont
Bobby Geiger (Sr., Driver) - Air Force
Ben Hadley (Sr., Attack) - Pomona-Pitzer
Brendan Meaney (Sr., Center) - Redlands
David Morton (Jr., Goalie) - UC San Diego
Honorable Mention All-WWPA
Ryan Balikian (Sr., Utility) - Pomona-Pitzer
Rilesh Desai (Sr., Utility) - Whittier
Colin Hicks (So., Attack) - UC Davis
Kurt Lemmen (Sr., 2M Defense) - Air Force
Chase Parlee (Sr., Driver) - Chapman
Daniel Smith (Sr., 2M Defense) - Loyola Marymount
Michael Wishart (Jr., Goalie) - Santa Clara
WWPA All-Freshman Team
Tucker Carlson - Santa Clara
Jarrod Gaut - Pomona-Pitzer
Erick Gonzalez - Whittier
Teddy Nicholson - UC Davis
Dane Sequeira - UC San Diego
Josh Stedman - Air Force
