Musselman, Brooks Earn MPSF Honors
May 02, 2017 | Women's Water Polo
LOS ANGELES -- UCLA women's water polo freshman Maddie Musselman was named the MPSF Newcomer of the Year, while Brandon Brooks earned Coach of the Year honors, as announced Tuesday by the conference office. Six Bruin players received conference accolades, led by First-Team recipients Musselman and Rachel Fattal. Kodi Hill (Second-Team), Alys Williams and Carlee Kapana (Honorable Mention) rounded out the All-MPSF recipients, while Musselman and Bronte Halligan were selected to the All-Newcomer team.
Musselman has recorded team highs of 59 goals and 46 steals over the Bruins' first 23 games. The attacker garnered a conference-record seven Newcomer of the Week awards over the course of her debut season, and became the first player in MPSF history to earn Newcomer and Player of the Week honors in the same week (April 25). Musselman has posted 12 hat tricks on the season, including three five-goal games. She joins teammate Fattal as the only Bruins in program history to capture the award.
Brooks follows up his fourth MPSF Tournament title with the third MPSF Coach of the Year award of his tenure. He previously earned the award in 2012 and 2015. His current team has totaled 337 goals over 23 games (14.65 goals per game), and holds an average margin of victory of 10.30 goals per gameโboth good for second in program history. Defensively, the Bruins' 100 goals allowed (4.35 GPG) is tops in the MPSF. The team's unbeaten conference record (6-0) marked the first time that a UCLA team accomplished that feat under Brooks.
Joining Musselman in earning First-Team honors was Fattal, who has 45 goals, 33 assists, 33 steals and team bests of 16 field blocks and 34 sprints won. The Seal Beach, Calif. native joins Kelly Rulon (2003, 05-07) as the only Bruins to garner three All-MPSF First-Team honors.
Redshirt senior Kodi Hill, meanwhile, earned the second All-MPSF Second-Team honor of her career. The attacker from Santa Barbara, Calif. leads the team with 44 assists and has also contributed 27 goals and 20 steals. Hill totaled three third-quarter goals in a pivotal April 15 win at Stanford.
For the third time, Williams was named to the Honorable Mention list. With the final goal of UCLA's MPSF-clinching win Sunday, the redshirt senior reached the 40-goal mark for the first time in her career. The Huntington Beach, Calif. native also has 21 assists and 22 steals to rank among the top five Bruins in each of those categories.
In her first season as the full-time starter, Kapana (Newport Beach, Calif.) totaled 170 saves over 20.99 games played (8.10 saves per game) and surrendered 91 goals over 83.95 quarters played (4.34 goals-against average). The sophomore also earned the first MPSF Player of the Week award of her career after giving up just one goal in a 16-1 win over UC Irvine (Feb. 17).
Halligan, who did not participate in the Bruins' first two contests, got into a rhythm during a six-game stretch that spanned from Feb. 24-March 11. The freshman out of Manly, Australia scored 12 goals over that period, en route to 24 for her debut season. She also ranked among the top five Bruins in assists (21) and steals (24).
The MPSF All-Tournament Team was also announced Monday night, as Fattal and Musselman were honored for their contributions to the Bruins conference-capturing run. Fattal was named MVP of the tournament, as she posted totals of a team-high five goals, five field blocks and three steals. She also knocked down a California attempt on the Golden Bears' final possession of UCLA's semifinal win Saturday. Musselman, meanwhile, posted four goals and a team-best five steals over the two games.
