San
Francisco, CA - May 21 - The Olympic Club has announced the women's finalists
for the Peter J. Cutino Award, an iconic honor in NCAA water polo to recognize
the best men's and women's players each year. The women's finalists are Bia
Mantellato Dias (Hawaii), Isabel Williams (California), and Lauren Steele
(UCLA).
Bia
Mantellato Dias was named Big West Player of the Year and a member of the
All-Big West First Team for the second consecutive season. She was a key part
of the run to the NCAA Semifinal that saw the Wahine finish the season No. 3 in
the final 2024 polls, the highest final ranking in the history of the program
and the Big West Conference. Mantellato Dias led Hawaii with 64 goals scored
and notched a hat trick in ten games, including three four-goal performances
and three five-goal showings.
Isabel
Williams captained a University of California defense that led the nation with
just 6.7 goals allowed per game. She tallied eleven saves and one steal in the
NCAA Championship against UCLA, bringing her program saves record to 885.
Williams ends her fifth-year senior season with career highs in saves (326),
save percentage (.653) and saves per game (12.5) while being named to the
All-MPSF First Team.
Lauren
Steele was named NCAA Championship MVP after racking up 17 saves in a 7-4 UCLA
win over California. Steele was also named MPSF Tournament MVP and Newcomer of
the Year. She accumulated 268 saves and scored seven goals of her own en route
to a perfect 26-0 record, the third undefeated season in program history (2005
& 2008).
The men's
finalists were announced previously and include Nikolaos Papanikolaou (Cal),
Roko Pozaric (Princeton), and Rafael Real Vergara (UCLA)
The
Cutino Awards will take place on the evening of Saturday, June 1 at The Olympic
Club in San Francisco. The ceremony will be live-streamed at Overnght.com. The
broadcast will feature interviews with finalists, athletes, coaches plus the
Cutino Award ceremony in its entirety. Those interested in attending the awards
can register by clicking here.
Established
in 1999 by The Olympic Club, the Cutino Award is given annually to the top
men's and women's NCAA Division I water polo players as voted on by coaches
from across the country. The namesake of the award is a legend in United States
water polo history, with eight NCAA titles as head coach at Cal. The Olympic
Club has a long and distinguished competitive water polo history, a tradition
that continues today in the pool with some of the best age-group teams in the
world.
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