Wolverine Quartet Earns CWPA All-Conference Honors
4/23/2015 12:00:00 AM | Water Polo
April 23, 2015
BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- Four members of the University of Michigan water polo team were selected to the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) All-Conference teams, the league announced Thursday (April 23). Junior Ali Thomason was one of seven first-team selections, while sophomore Allison Skaggs was selected to the second, and junior Julia Campbell and freshman Caroline Anderson were named honorable mention.
Thomason, a 2014 ACWPC All-America honorable mention, garners her first CWPA All-Conference accolade. She has appeared in all 29 games this season and leads the Wolverines with a career-high 49 goals to go with 30 assists and team-high 49 steals. She tallied 23 goals, including a six-goal effort against Indiana, and 12 assists in CWPA league play.
Skaggs, last year's CWPA Rookie of the Year and an ACWPC All-America honorable mention, has appeared in all 29 games, posting 31 goals, nine assists and 11 steals. She leads the Wolverines with 49 drawn kickouts. She tallied eight goals in CWPA play.
Campbell has emerged as the Wolverines' primary goalkeeper over the second half of the season and has compiled a stellar 14-2 record in the cage with a .551 save percentage and 6.40 goals-against average. Campbell has garnered three CWPA Defensive Player of the Week accolades this season, including each of the regular season's final two.
Anderson ranks second on the U-M team with 49 goals and 43 steals and boasts a program-record 50 assists. She boasts a team-best nine hat tricks this season, including two in three games last weekend. She tallied 21 goals and 20 assists in CWPA league play this season.
Voted on by the head coaches in the division, the all-division team comprises the best players based on nominations from the coaches, combined with a review of each player's performance during the 2015 regular-season and conference play.
The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan water polo team (18-11, 8-1 CWPA) kicks off the postseason at the 2015 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championships this weekend at DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, New Jersey. As the tournament's No. 2 seed, the Wolverines received a first-round bye and will open tournament play at 6 p.m. on Friday (April 26), facing the winner of the first-round game between No. 7 seed Bucknell and Connecticut College. Depending on the outcome, U-M will play at either 2:20 p.m. or 5:20 p.m. on Saturday (April 25). The championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday (April 26).
2015 CWPA AWARD WINNERS
Player of the Year: Ashleigh Johnson (Princeton)
Coach of the Year: Ted Minnis (Harvard)
Rookie of the Year: Kelly Matthews (Indiana)
All-CWPA First Team
Ashleigh Johnson (Goalie), Princeton
Ashley Hatcher, Princeton
Jessie Holechek, Princeton
Yoshi Andersen, Harvard
Hannah Sunday, Bucknell
Shannon Crowley, Brown
Ali Thomason, U-M
All-CWPA Second Team
Marisol Dakan (Goalie), Brown
Kelly Matthews, Indiana
Candyce Schroeder, Indiana
Jacqueline Bywater, George Washington
Zsofia Polak, Hartwick
Charlotte Hendrix, Harvard
Allison Skaggs, U-M
Honorable Mention
Ariel Dukes (Goalie), Harvard
Julia Campbell (Goalie), U-M
Caroline Anderson, U-M
Britt Tait, Hartwick
Lara Dendy Young, Hartwick
Rebecca Gerrity, Indiana
Colleen McNaught, Indiana
Scarlett Hallahan, George Washington
Melissa Balding, Harvard
Kennedy Watson, Mercyhurst
Gina-Bella Mata'afa, Notre Dame College
Communications Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
