April 27, 2011

2011 All-WWPA

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - LMU junior Kimberly Benedetti has been named the 2011 Western Water Polo Association Women's Player of the Year, becoming the ninth Lion in 11 years to earn the top honor in the WWPA. Five Lions earned honors in 2011 as the conference announced the 2011 award winners on Wednesday.

Thanks to the Lions third straight No. 1 seed in the upcoming WWPA Championships and a perfect 11-0 record against WWPA foes, second-year Head Coach Kyle Witt has been named WWPA Coach of the Year. The Lions are 22-0 under Witt against the WWPA heading into the first round of the championships, which starts Friday at Chabot Community College and hosted by Cal State East Bay.

Benedetti led a balanced Lions' attack that has the Lions on a 35-game winning streak in the WWPA. She was tied for the team lead with 54 goals and ranks second all-time in LMU history with 83 kickouts drawn this season. In three seasons, she is ranked sixth all-time with 149 career goals.

In addition to the Player of the Year honor for Benedetti, she earned first-team All-WWPA for the first time in her career. Joining her on that list is junior Casey Flacks, who also picks up her inaugural first-team All-WWPA honor. Sophomore Erin Manke was named second-team All-WWPA while senior Mary Ann Campos was named honorable mention. Freshman Alexandra Honny was named to the WWPA All-Freshman team.

The Lions have earned 53 All-Conference honors since 2001.

Flacks, the Lions' team captain in 2011, was named the 2011 LMU Student-Athlete of the year and has been a stat-stuffer for the Lions. She has 37 goals (fifth on the team), 27 assists (second), and 53 steals (first). In her career, she now ranks 15th in goals (91), second in assists (92), eighth in steals (138) and third in kickouts drawn (167).

As for Manke, she is second on the team in 2011 with 49 goals and tops on the team with 49 assists. The assist total is the best in program history in a single season. She now has 83 goals and 86 assists in her two-year stint at LMU, ranking 17th and third, respectively.

In terms of career numbers, the four-year senior Campos might be one of LMU's all-time best. She has 188 goals entering the WWPA tournament, ranking fifth all-time at LMU. She is tied with Benedetti this season for the team lead at 54 goals, adding 17 steals and 14 assists. She is ranked 10th all-time in career assits with 58, 16th in steals with 99 and third in shot attempts with 502.

The newest member on the list is the true freshman Honny. She ranked third for freshman in the WWPA this season in scoring with 45 goals, ranking fourth for the Lions. She added 21 steals, 24 kickouts drawn and 32 steals in her first year of collegiate water polo.