California women's water polo freshman Despoina Drakotou is the first Golden Bear to win a major MPSF award since 2014 with her selection as the 2026 MPSF Newcomer of the Year. She is joined by two other fresh faces on the MPSF honor roll in All-MPSF First Team honoree Julia Bonaguidi and All-MPSF Honorable Mention recipient Feline Voordouw. Drakotou also has secured spots on the All-MPSF Second Team and MPSF All-Newcomer Team for her work so far in her first season as a Bear.

??BIG NEWS!?? 

Despi is MPSF Newcomer of the Year! ??

Julia is on the All-MPSF First Team, and Fe has MPSF Honorable Mention!????

??: https://t.co/ceLTWaf6uc#GoBears ?? pic.twitter.com/ZEXpfIQWVD
— Cal Women's Water Polo (@CalWWPolo) April 9, 2026
 

Drakotou becomes just the second Cal player to be named MPSF Newcomer of the Year, following Dora Antal's selection in 2014. Other Bears to have earned top honors from the conference have been 1999 MPSF Co-Player of the Year Colette Glinkowski and 2000 MPSF Goalie of the Year Fana Fuqua. In her first season of work at Cal, Drakotou set a program record as a six-time MPSF Newcomer of the Week pick and tallied a seven-goal game to stand just one shy of Glinkowski's Cal record of eight goals scored in a single game. Drakotou also was selected to the Cutino Award Watch List this season, and she is Cal's second leading scorer (37 goals) and steals leader (26) as she and the Bears set up to host the MPSF Tournament this week at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Also with a place on the All-MPSF Second Team and All-Newcomer Team, Drakotou has served up 24 assists and made 13 field blocks – both No. 2 marks on the team this season. A native of Athens, Greece, she is coming off a summer in which she won a bronze medal with Greece at the 2025 U20 World Aquatics Championships.

Cal's top scorer with 39 goals entering the postseason, junior Bonaguidi earned her first MPSF Player of the Week award last month and now has her first career All-MPSF award with her place on the first team. Also on the Cutino Award Watch List, Bonaguidi is a gold-medalist with Team USA at the 2025 U20 World Aquatics Championships. She carries 89 career goals into the coming MPSF Tournament with Cal, and she's provided 17 assists with 21 steals nabbed so far this season. Another Cutino Award Watch List selection, junior Voordouw is enjoying her first All-MPSF award with her 2026 honorable mention. A native of the Netherlands, Voordouw leads Cal in exclusions drawn and field blocks so far this season and is one of four Bears in the 30-goal zone with 33 tallied to date. Last year, both Bonaguidi and Voordouw were named to the MPSF All-Tournament Team.

UP NEXT
California hosts the 2026 MPSF Tournament this week, with action running Friday through Sunday at Spieker Aquatics Complex. As the No. 4 seed in the tourney, the Golden Bears (13-5) face No. 5 seed Arizona State at 2:30 p.m. PT on Friday to fight for a spot in the 12:45 p.m. semifinals against top-seeded USC on Saturday. Sunday competition will feature placement games, culminating in a 2:30 p.m. championship. For the tournament full schedule and results, visit the MPSF Tournament Central page.

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