Max Casabella, left, has been named MPSF Newcomer of the Week for the second straight week while Nikolaos Papanikolaou won Player of the Week honors for the second time this season.
10/18/2021 2:13 PM | Men's Water Polo
Papanikolaou Wins Player Of The Week; Casabella Repeats As Newcomer Of The Week
For the second week in a row and the third time this season, Cal has swept the MPSF men's water polo weekly awards.
Junior Nikolaos Papanikolaou has been named the conference Player of the Week while freshman Max Casabella earned Newcomer of the Week honors for the second straight week.
Papanikolaou was an unstoppable force during the No. 2 Bears' 14-13 comeback victory over No. 6 UC Santa Barbara on Sunday. He scored six goals on six shots while also drawing an MPSF season-high 10 exclusions. Papanikolaou's final goal brought the Bears to within 12-10 midway through the fourth quarter, part of a 6-0 run that erased a 12-17 run and eventually put them in the lead.
It's the second conference Player of the Week award this season for Papanikolaou, who was the MPSF Player of the Year last season.
Casabella had two goals and three assists against the Gauchos, and was right in the middle of Cal's fourth-quarter comeback. All three of his assists came during the deciding 6-0 run, including the final one on Garrett Dunn's game-winner with 56 seconds remaining. Casabella also scored a goal with 4:50 remaining that cut UCSB's lead to 12-11.
The Bears now have won four Player of the Week awards and four Newcomer of the Week honors this season.
Cal (16-2) hosts No. 12 Princeton on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
Junior Nikolaos Papanikolaou has been named the conference Player of the Week while freshman Max Casabella earned Newcomer of the Week honors for the second straight week.
Papanikolaou was an unstoppable force during the No. 2 Bears' 14-13 comeback victory over No. 6 UC Santa Barbara on Sunday. He scored six goals on six shots while also drawing an MPSF season-high 10 exclusions. Papanikolaou's final goal brought the Bears to within 12-10 midway through the fourth quarter, part of a 6-0 run that erased a 12-17 run and eventually put them in the lead.
It's the second conference Player of the Week award this season for Papanikolaou, who was the MPSF Player of the Year last season.
Casabella had two goals and three assists against the Gauchos, and was right in the middle of Cal's fourth-quarter comeback. All three of his assists came during the deciding 6-0 run, including the final one on Garrett Dunn's game-winner with 56 seconds remaining. Casabella also scored a goal with 4:50 remaining that cut UCSB's lead to 12-11.
The Bears now have won four Player of the Week awards and four Newcomer of the Week honors this season.
Cal (16-2) hosts No. 12 Princeton on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
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