Nov. 14, 2007

Four Santa Clara men's water polo players earned All-WWPA Honors today for the 2007 season. Senior Tommy Kelly was named to the All-WWPA 1st Team, senior Robert Callahan was named to the All-WWPA Second Team, junior Tommy Hendrickson was named All-WWPA Honorable Mention, and freshman Nicholas Poggetti was named to the All-Freshman Team.

Kelly and Callahan were named the two senior captains on the team at the beginning of the year, and have led the Broncos to a No. 2 seeding in the upcoming WWPA Championships, the best seeding in the school's history.

Kelly has consistently been one of the best two meter defenders in the WWPA this year, shutting down opposing offenses and helping keep Santa Clara in the top part of the nation in fewest goals allowed per game. He also increased his scoring near the end of the year, becoming the fourth leading scorer on the team with 24 goals.

Callahan has been one of the most consistent forces for Santa Clara in the goal this season. Callahan is currently ranked third in the nation in blocks despite playing only the first half or first three quarters of many of the games early in the season.

Hendrickson is one of the best all around players on the team. This year he is second on the team in goals (41) and first in assists (31) and steals (23).

Nick Poggetti has played in 24 of the 26 games this year as a freshman. Along with Kelly, he has become a stellar two meter defender and has been invaluable coming off the bench this year. Poggetti was also one of two freshman on the team who scored in double figures this year with 11 goals.

2007 Western Water Polo Association Men's Water Polo Honors
Player of the Year: Mike McGee (Sr.) - GK - UC Davis
Newcomer of the Year: Andy Stevens (RS Fr.) - GK - Loyola Marymount
Coach of the Year: Steve Doten - UC Davis

First-Team All-WWPA
Mike McGee (Sr., Goalie) - UC Davis
Nick Arrigo (Sr., Driver) - UC Davis
Clark Condict (Sr., Utility) - Air Force
Daniel Garcia (So., 2-Meter) - UC San Diego
Ryan Hall (Sr., 2-Meter) - Redlands
Tommy Kelly (Sr., 2-Meter) - Santa Clara
Mark Milovic (Jr., 2-Meter) - Loyola Marymount

Second-Team All-WWPA
Robert Callahan (Sr., Goalie) - Santa Clara
Andrew Becskehazy (Jr., Driver) - Redlands
Adam Bennett (Jr., Utility) - UC Davis
Justin Berry (Sr., 2-Meter) - Air Force
Steve Donohoe (So., 2-Meter) - UC San Diego
Tibor Forai (Fr., Driver) - Loyola Marymount
David Mock (Sr., 2-Meter) - Pomona-Pitzer

Honorable Mention All-WWPA
Andy Stevens (RS Fr., Goalie) - Loyola Marymount
Justin Garver (Sr., Def.) - UC Santa Cruz
Tommy Hendrickson (Jr., Driver) - Santa Clara
Julien Lormant (Jr., 2-Meter) - Loyola Marymount
Grant Muenter (Jr., Driver) - UC Davis
Alex Mule (So., Utility) - Chapman
Andrew Zepfel (Sr., 2-Meter) - Claremont

WWPA All-Freshman Team
Mark Stemler (GK) - UC San Diego
Ryan Balikian - Pomona-Pitzer
Andrew Cosentino - Claremont
Walter Eggert - UC Davis
Tibor Forai - Loyola Marymount
Bobby Geiger - Air Force
Nicholas Poggetti - Santa Clara
Andrew Smith-Jones - Redlands

Follow the championships online at www.WesternWaterPolo.org.