Mountain Pacific Sports Federation

All-MPSF Women's Water Polo Announced

4/21/2022 10:00:57 AM

Photo: UCLA's Maddie Musselman is the first ever to earn both an MPSF Newcomer and Player of the Year award in her career.
(Courtesy: UCLA Athletics)

2022 All-MPSF Women's Water Polo Selections (PDF)
 
UCLA redshirt-senior Maddie Musselman (Newport Beach, CA/Corona Del Mar HS) scored in 24 of 25 regular season games this year. Musselman has 60 goals, fourth-most in the MPSF, along with 31 assists and 91 points to rank eighth and third in the conference respectively. She is one of four players in the MPSF to rank in the top-10 in each of those three categories this year. Defensively, she ranks in the MPSF’s top-five in steals (36, second) and field blocks (12, fifth). She has 18 multiple-goal outings and nine hat tricks, highlighted by a career-high six-goal game against No. 6 Michigan on January 30. Musselman was an MPSF-high three-time conference player of the week this year, including her March 8 recognition after a four-goal, two-assist effort in a key Bruin road win at No. 4 California. The following week, she became UCLA’s all-time leading scorer, and has since built that school record total to 243 career goals to rank 12th in MPSF history (and 12 away from the top-10). Musselman, who becomes the first-ever to earn both an MPSF Newcomer and Player of the Year award in her career, represents UCLA’s first MPSF Player of the Year in eight years and eighth overall (Sami Hill-2014, Caitlin Dement-2012, Jilian Kraus & Courtney Mathewson-2008, Kelly Rulon-2007, Rulon & Natalie Golda-2005).  
Arizona State freshman Vanda Baksa (Budapest, Hungary) had one of the great rookie seasons in Sun Devil and MPSF history. She is the only freshman to earn an all-conference honor this year. Through the regular season, Baksa is the 2022 conference leader in goals (73), assists (49), and points (122), while she ranks second in field blocks (21) and third in steals (35). She was also on top of the MPSF across the six conference games in goals (18) and points (31). Baksa took down the Sun Devil freshman goals record, and is six away from the MPSF’s all-time top-30 in single-season history. Her scoring streak stands at 17-straight games, and she has scored in 24 of ASU’s 25 contests (including 16 hat tricks). On February 27, Baksa tallied a 2022 conference-high eight goals, just one shy of the all-time MPSF record. On March 12, she tallied school records of 10 points (also an MPSF season-high) and seven assists. She won a conference-high six weekly awards, all coming in the final eight weeks of the season. Baksa is Arizona State’s first-ever MPSF major annual award winner.
USC head coach Marko Pintaric guided the Trojans to a 17-2 (.895) regular season and a second-straight No. 1 seed in the MPSF Championship Tournament. The Trojans ran the table in the MPSF schedule, winning all six games. USC has five wins against nationally-ranked top-five opponents this year, and three other wins against the top-10. USC held its opponents to single-digit goals in 15 of 19 regular season games, while scoring 10 or more in all but two contests. The Trojans placed five players on this year’s All-MPSF Teams, highlighted by Tilly Kearns and three-time honoree Paige Hauschild on the first team. Pintaric holds a career record of 51-4 (.927) as he nears the end of his third year, and repeats as MPSF Coach of the Year.