Eight water polo players earn national All-Academic honors
Chelsie Bryan joined Danielle Comforti and Claire Pierce as repeat ACWPC All-Academic honorees.
- August 22, 2011
After recording its best finish in program history at the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championships, the Cal State East Bay women's water polo team reeled in more honors on Monday, as eight players collected Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) All-Academic recognition. The Pioneers have now placed at least four players on the All-Academic list for each of the last nine years and collected their ninth straight Team Academic Award.
For the second straight year, sophomore Claire Pierce collected “Outstanding” honors from the ACWPC after becoming the Pioneers' first Capital One Academic All-District selection in 2011. Pierce led the team in scoring for the second year, ranking among the nation's leaders with 87 goals, and moved into second on the program's career goals list with 177 in just two seasons. Pierce was also an All-WWPA and All-WWPA Tournament First Team selection.
Freshman Julia Charlesworth joined Pierce in collecting “Outstanding” honors. Charlesworth finished her rookie campaign with four goals, six assists and six steals, and led the team with a 3.84 grade point average in her first year as a kinesiology major.
Six Pioneers earned “Excellent” honors from the ACWPC for garnering grade point averages ranging from 3.2 to 3.4. Senior Danielle Comforti and sophomore Chelsie Bryan joined Pierce as repeat recipients, each collecting their second straight honors. Both held a 3.4 GPA in the pre-nursing major, with Bryan posting 18 goals to rank eighth on the team and Comforti ranking seventh in steals with 25.
Senior Kendra Mason, junior Jayme Pekarske and freshmen Meaghan Paschall and Sara Hudyn joined Comforti and Bryan in the “Excellent” category. Pekarske started in the cage for the Pioneers in 2011, collecting All-WWPA Honorable Mention honors and a All-WWPA Tournament Second Team nod. Meanwhile, Hudyn and Paschall combined for 20 goals as rookies and Mason provided solid backup in goal off the bench.
The Pioneers bested last year's squad with two more ACWPC All-Academic selections and were just one selection shy of the team's all-time best of nine honorees. The team as a whole collected its ninth straight Team Academic Award, posting a 3.08 combined GPA. Cal State East Bay was one of just three Division II squads to earn team recognition and one of just six DII teams to have individuals honored by the ACWPC. All eight Pioneer honorees were also WWPA All-Academic selections in 2011.