Nov. 18, 2009

Los Angeles, CA (Nov. 18, 2009) - For the second consecutive season LMU goalie Andy Stevens has been named the Western Water Polo Association Men's Player of Year as voted on by the league's 13 coaches. It is the fifth time a Lion has been chosen WWPA Player of the Year, the second time the Lions have had back-to-back winners and the first time a player has earned it twice in his career.

In addition to the Player of the Year honor for Stevens, he also earned first-team All-WWPA honors for the second consecutive year. Joining him on the first team is junior Ikaika Andrew Aki. Second-team All-WWPA honors went to sophomore Edgaras Asajavicius and junior Tibor Forai.

Stevens led the Lions to a national ranking as high as No. 5 and was key in leading the Lions to a number three ranking nationally in team defense, allowing just 6.13 goals per game. He played in all 23 games for Lions, helping them to the No. 1 seed in the upcoming WWPA Men's Water Polo Championship hosted by Chapman on Friday, Nov. 20 - Sunday, Nov. 22.

Stevens had 13 games with 10 or more saves, reaching his career-best with 21 in a game twice. He enters the WWPA tournament with 259 saves and a goals against average of 6.31. In his career, his GAA is at 7.140 while making 865 saves in his three seasons.

Aki had a break-out season, setting career-highs in every stats category. He is second on the team with 32 goals and leads the team in assists with 22, steals with 63 and field blocks with 42, which is a program record.

Asajavicius leads the Lions in scoring with 40 goals and is second in assists with 16, while Forai, who missed six games this season, has 29 goals and 13 assists.

The Lions will open the WWPA tournament with Chapman on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

2009 Western Water Polo Association Men's Water Polo Honors
Player of the Year: Andy Stevens (RS Jr.) - GK - Loyola Marymount
Newcomer of the Year: Cruz Smithson (Fr.) - Utl. - Air Force
Coach of the Year: Jeff Ehrlich - Air Force

First-Team All-WWPA
Ikaika (Andrew) Aki (Jr., Utl) - LMU
Alex Churnside (Sr., Utl) - Air Force
Steven Donohoe (Sr., Utl) - UC San Diego
Ryan Floersch (Sr., Ctr) - Redlands
Carlos Martinez (Jr., Utl) - UC Davis
Andy Stevens (Jr., GK) - LMU
Jack Wall (Sr., Dr.) - Santa Clara

Second-Team All-WWPA
Edgaras Asajavicius (So., Dr.) - LMU
Tibor Forai (Jr., Utl) - LMU
Peter Gresham (Sr., 2MD) - UC San Diego
Ben Hadley (Jr., Utl) - Pomona-Pitzer
Jack Hines (Sr., 2MD) - Air Force
Cory Lyle (Jr., Att) - UC Davis
Alex Mule (Sr., Utl) - Chapman
Nick Poggetti (Jr., 2M) - Santa Clara
Casey Regher (Sr., GK) - Whittier

Honorable Mention All-WWPA
Brian Chong (So., Utl) - Claremont
Rilesh Desai (Jr., Att) - Whittier
Liam Farrell (Sr., Utl) - Santa Clara
Matt Heagy (Sr., 2MO) - Cal Lutheran
David Ostrom (Sr., GK) - Air Force

WWPA All-Freshman Team
Cruz Smithson (Utl) - Air Force
Colin Hicks (Att) - UC Davis
John Butler (Dr) - UC San Diego
Taylor Roszkos (GK) - Chapman
Mark Hudall (Dr) - Pomona-Pitzer
Brian Baier (Utl) - Claremont
Patrick Weiss (2MD) - Santa Clara

Follow the championships online at www.WesternWaterPolo.org.