SAN DIEGO – The Golden Coast Conference (GCC) announced its 2021 All-Academic selections for women's water polo on Friday and the San Diego State Aztecs took home a program-record haul of 16 honors. The announcement was made by the conference from its offices in Aliso Viejo, Calif.
Since the program's inaugural season of 1995, only one other San Diego State water polo team has earned double digit conference academic honors in a single year; the 2019 squad, which garnered 11 GCC All-Academic awards. The 16 honors are the second most by any team in the GCC this year, trailing only Azusa Pacific's 18 awards.
For inclusion, players must be full-time students with at least one semester completed at their given institution, have played in more than 50 percent of their team's games, and hold a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative GPA.
The 16 Aztecs who met the requirements are: seniors Emily Bennett, Karli Canale, Lucia Carballo, Dani D'Andrea, Haley Hagerty, Maddie Higginson, and Rory Nuuhiwa, juniors Delaney Binette, Raquel de Pinho, Jessica Leckich, and Spencer Samuel, sophomore Katie Ratcliff, and freshmen Faith Cerussi, Adrina Daniel, Kendall Houck, and Laurene Padilla.
For Bennett and Carballo, this is their fourth GCC academic honor, while Binette, Leckich and Samuel have been recognized for the third time. The remaining 11 are receiving the distinction for the first time in their careers.
Since joining the GCC in 2014, Coach Crawford's players have been honored 68 times for their academic success by the conference.
San Diego State finished the season ranked No. 12 nationally, its highest final ranking since the 2013 season, when the Aztecs were No. 10 in the final American Water Polo Coaches Association (AWPCA) poll. The team earned a share of the GCC regular-season title with a 6-1 conference record, and finished runner-up in the GCC Championship tournament.
2021 Golden Coast Conference All-Academic Team
San Diego State honorees
| Emily Bennett | Sr. | UTL | Oakdale, Calif. |
| Delaney Binette | Jr. | DR | Santa Ana, Calif. |
| Karli Canale | Sr. | DR | San Diego, Calif. |
| Lucia Carballo | Sr. | DEF | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Faith Cerussi | Fr. | CTR | Davis, Calif. |
| Dani D'Andrea | Sr. | DR | Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. |
| Adrina Daniel | Fr. | UTL | San Clemente, Calif. |
| Raquel de Pinho | Jr. | GK | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Haley Hagerty | Sr. | CTR | Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. |
| Maddie Higginson | Sr. | UTL | Santa Clara, Calif. |
| Kendall Houck | Fr. | UTL | Sacramento, Calif. |
| Jessica Leckich | Jr. | DR | Coto de Caza, Calif. |
| Rory Nuuhiwa | Sr. | ATT | Napa, Calif. |
| Laurene Padilla | Fr. | UTL | Carlsbad, Calif. |
| Katie Ratcliff | So. | UTL | San Diego, Calif. |
| Spencer Samuel | Jr. | DR | San Diego, Calif. |
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