California freshman attacker Kai Inoue collected his first career honor after being named the MPSF Men's Water Polo Newcomer of the Week, as announced today by the conference. Inoue is the second Golden Bear to accomplish this feat after Aran Pina claimed the honor last week.
 
Inoue earned the award after leading the Golden Bears to a 3-1 record this past weekend at the Overnght MPSF Invitational, before they fell in the title game to the defending champion and No. 1 ranked team in the country, UCLA.
 
Through four games, he racked up 10 goals, five assists, three steals and three earned exclusions to help Cal clinch three ranked wins over No. 2 USC, No. 11 LMU and No. 17 UC Santa Barbara.
 
In the first game of the tournament against the Gauchos, Inoue posted a game and career-high five goals, including back-to-back scores in the final minutes to give the Bears the lead en route to the 16-14 victory. His five goals all came in the second half. Against the Lions, he recorded a game-high four goals, along with two earned exclusions and one assist. In the game against the Trojans, he finished with two steals, one goal and one assist.

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