June 2, 2016
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State water polo's Ioli Benekou, Alyssa Diacono, Caroline Israels and Rachel Mitchell all earned honorable mention All-America honors, the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches announced on Thursday. The four honorees match the school record set in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2014, and were the most among Golden Coast Conference schools.
"These four athletes have been the backbone of our team this past season and played key roles in leading our team to the GCC tournament title and the NCAA Championship," head coach Carin Crawford said. "While I know what they mean to our team, it is very gratifying to see their outstanding play be recognized by my NCAA coaching colleagues."
The quartet helped the Aztecs win their third straight GCC regular-season title and first conference tournament championship in school history. As a result of winning the tourney, SDSU earned its first automatic bid to the NCAA Championship and third trip to NCAAs, but first since 2008.
Benekou picked up her second career All-America honor after being recognized as a freshman in 2014. The junior produced 48 goals, 17 assists, 37 steals and 17 field blocks. She tied Israels for the team lead in field blocks, while ranking second on the team in goals, fourth in assists and sixth in steals. The defender from Greece also tallied 10 multi-goal games, including six hat tricks, 11 multi-steal efforts and four multi-assist performances.
Diacono is now a two-time All-American after earning honorable mention accolades in 2014. The center from Ladera Ranch totaled 35 goals, eight assists, 17 steals and drew a remarkable 101 ejections. Her 35 goals were the third most on the team and her .467 goal percentage was tops among all Aztecs with at least 50 attempts. Diacono's 101 drawn ejections, meanwhile, were tied for the second most in single-season school history (Erinn Greenwood, 2009). In fact, in her first two years alone, the 2016 all-GCC first-team selection drew 100 ejections. Diacono finished with 10 multiple-goal efforts, including five hat tricks, one multi-assist game and four games with multiple steals.
Israels earned her second straight All-America honor after posting a team-high 63 goals to go with 25 assists, 56 steals, 17 field blocks and 33 drawn ejections. The all-GCC first-teamer ranked second on the team in assists, steals and ejections drawn. The junior scored the game-winning goal vs. Pacific in the GCC championship in the second sudden-victory overtime period and was named to the all-tournament team for her effort. Later, at the conclusion of the NCAA Championship, Israels was voted to the all-tourney second team. The soon-to-be senior had a San Diego State-high 19 multiple-goal performances, which included a team-best 10 hat tricks, three multiple-assist outings and 15 multi-steal games.
Mitchell, lastly, finishes her career as a two-time All-American after earning honorable mention recognition in 2014. The goalkeeper was a rock between the pipes, especially down the stretch. In the final seven games, the GCC tournament MVP recorded double-figure save totals six times, including a career-high-tying 18 vs. UOP in the GCC title game. For the year, Mitchell, a first-team all-GCC performer in her own right, tallied 364 saves, 7.11 GAA, four assists, nine steals and 17 double-figure save games. She leaves Montezuma Mesa as one of the all-time great goalkeepers, ranking second all-time on the career saves chart with 1,291, which trails only her predecessor, Kelly Campoli (1,350).
San Diego State, which went undefeated in Golden Coast action for a third consecutive season, finished the 2016 campaign with an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Championship and 14th in the final top-25 poll.