California Golden Bears Athletics
Papanikolaou Earns Sixth Career MPSF Weekly Honor
9/11/2023 5:22 PM | Men's Water Polo
Scored 7 Goals In Undefeated Week
BERKELEY – After helping cap off another undefeated week for the No. 1 California men's water polo team, senior center Nikolaos Papanikolaou was named the MPSF Player of the Week for the fourth time in his career, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation announced Monday.
In three wins over ranked opponents, Papanikolaou drew 15 exclusions – including three penalties – while scoring seven goals, the last of which won the game in the final moments of Sunday's 10-9 overtime thriller at No. 8 Pepperdine. The two-time reigning national player of the year also tallied four assists, four steals and four field blocks on the week.
Papanikolaou started his week with three goals and six earned exclusions in three quarters of play in an 18-6 win over No. 20 Navy. Five days later, he helped lead Cal to a convincing 12-5 win over No. 2 USC, putting away a pair of highlight goals while drawing three more exclusions.
This is the sixth career weekly conference honor for Papanikolaou, who was also named the MPSF Newcomer of the Year twice during his freshman season in 2019. The Golden Bears have now won both MPSF Player of the Week awards to start the season, with Roberto Valera taking home the honor last week.
The Athens, Greece, native now has 226 career goals, ranking fourth all-time at Cal. He and the Bears will look to improve upon their 7-0 start with games this week at No. 4 UC Davis on Friday and No. 5 Pacific on Sunday.
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