SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State water polo team set a program record with 19 student-athletes garnering Golden Coast Conference (GCC) All-Academic Team honors for the 2023-24 school year, the league announced on Wednesday from its offices in Aliso Viejo, Calif.
This marks the fourth consecutive year the Aztecs have taken home double-digit honors, and the 19 Aztecs were among 123 women who have been recognized by the GCC for their success in the classroom.
Since SDSU’s inaugural season of water polo, in 1995, it had never earned double digit conference academic honors in four successive campaigns prior to this year. In 2021 and 2023, the Aztecs set and then equaled the previous program-record with 16 conference academic distinctions. With its haul of 15 honors in 2022 combined with the 11 that were bestowed on the team in 2019, SDSU has for the fifth time in the last six years taken home double digit GCC awards for classroom excellence. The 19 honors earned this year are the most of any team in the GCC.
For inclusion, players must be full-time students with at least one year completed at their current institution, have played in more than 50 percent of their team's games for the season, and hold a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative GPA.
The 19 Aztecs who met the requirements are: seniors Danni Croteau and Kendall Houck, juniors Amanda Chambers, Klara Goldstein, Rose Kanemy, Brooke Lee, Elena Pena, and Sofia Righetti, sophomores Tiaare Ahovelo, Hannah Bell, Sydney Gish, Mandy Lagerlof, Shannon Murphy, and Claudia Valdes, and freshmen Lucy Bullock, Sammi Byers, Mary Comiskey, Mimi Stoupas, and Daphne Wilder.
This is Houck’s fourth GCC academic honor, while Chambers, Croteau, Goldstein, Kanemy and Lee earned the distinction for the third time. Gish, Lagerlof, Murphy, Righetti, and Valdes are receiving the designation for the second time in their careers and the remaining seven: Ahovelo, Bullock, Byers, Comiskey, Pena, Stoupas and Wilder are first-time honorees.
Since joining the GCC in 2014, San Diego State players have been honored by the conference 118 times for their academic success.
Under the guidance of head coach Dana Ochsner, San Diego State finished the 2024 season ranked No. 21 in the final Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) poll. It compiled a 17-15 record, 4-3 in conference play, and took home a third-place finish in the GCC Championship tournament. It is the first time in the last seven seasons, the Aztecs have finished a campaign with a winning record.
2024 Golden Coast Conference All-Academic Honors
San Diego State Honorees
Tiaare Ahovelo, SDSU (SO, GK)
Hannah Bell, SDSU (SO, UTL)
Lucy Bullock, SDSU (FR, DEF)
Sammi Byers, SDSU (FR, ATT)
Amanda Chambers, SDSU (JR, ATT)
Mary Comiskey, SDSU (FR, UTL)
Danni Croteau, SDSU (SR, CTR)
Sydney Gish, SDSU (SO, ATT)
Klara Goldstein, SDSU (JR, UTL)
Kendall Houck, SDSU (SR, ATT)
Rose Kanemy, SDSU (JR, ATT)
Mandy Lagerlof, SDSU (SO, GK)
Brooke Lee, SDSU (JR, ATT)
Shannon Murphy, SDSU (SO, ATT)
Elena Pena, SDSU (JR, UTL)
Sofia Righetti, SDSU (JR, DEF)
Mimi Stoupas, SDSU (FR, CTR)
Claudia Valdes, SDSU (SO, ATT)
Daphne Wilder, SDSU (FR, UTL)