BERKELEY - Cal freshman Nik Mirkovic has been named MPSF men's water polo Newcomer of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.
 
Mirkovic played a key role in No. 1 Cal's 18-12 victory over rival No. 4 Stanford in the annual Big Splash on Saturday, registering two goals and a steal along with one earned exclusion.
 
This is the first career MPSF weekly honor for Mirkovic and the second week in a row that a Cal player has won the award after Albert Ponferrada received the nod last week.
 
The Bears head into the MPSF Championships this weekend at USC as the No. 1 seed and will face Penn State Behrend on Friday at 9:30 a.m. PT in the first round.