MAAC Release
Edison, NJ – Junior
Abbey Simshauser was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Co-Offensive Player of the Year while head coach
Ciaran Wolohan was tabbed as the Coach of the Year as six members of the #13 Wagner women's water polo team earned All-Conference honors, the conference announced on Friday morning.
Along with being named Co-Offensive Player of the Year,
Abbey Simshauser also earned First Team All-MAAC honors. Senior's
Sofia Diaz Alvarez and
Kristina Bell, sophomore's
Mar Navarro and
Andrea Arias, and fifth year senior
Malia Josephson all earned Second Team All-MAAC honors as they rounded out the individual player honors for the regular season champions.
Head coach
Ciaran Wolohan earned his first career Coach of the Year honor at the helm of the Seahawks, the Wagner graduate guided the Seahawks to a 32-3 regular season and a perfect 16-0 mark in conference play while compiling two 15-game winning streaks in the process. Wolohan becomes the fourth coach to earn Coach of the Year honors as Chris Radmonovich claimed this honor three times from 2013-2018. Patrick Beemer and Aaron Cavagnolo round out the other coaches to win the award. Since taking over for Chris Radmonovich before the 2020 season, Wolohan is sporting a 46-8 record and is unbeaten in MAAC contests.
This is the third time the Seahawks have won Offensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year in the same season as Wagner accomplished this feat in 2016, 2018, and now 2022. Six All-Conference honors is a program record as Wagner claimed five All-Conference honors in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017.
Abbey Simshauser becomes the sixth Seahawk to win Offensive Player of the Year as she joins Erica Hardy, Kimberly Watson, Jessica Lundgren, Chelsea Beck, and Billy Hoelck. Watson and Lundgren claimed the award twice. This is the sixth consecutive year of competition that Wagner has claimed the Offensive Player award, the Green & White accomplished the feat from 2015-2019 before the 2020 was cut short and the team opted out of the 2021 season. Simshauser finished the regular season with 90 goals on 173 shots, 52 assists, 142 points, a .520 shooting percentage, 54 exclusions, and 46 steals in 34 games played.
Sofia Diaz Alvarez picks up her third All-MAAC honor of her career as the senior was named MAAC Rookie of the Year in 2019 and was named to the First Team the same season. The Madrid, Spain native played in all 35 games this season while scoring 80 goals on 175 shots, dished out 48 assists and tallied 128 points. Diaz Alvarez tallied 51 steals and finished the regular season with a .457 shot percentage.
In her first season as a Seahawk,
Kristina Bell earns All-Conference honors after claiming seven Defensive Player of the Week honors, the most in program history in a single season. The Atascadero, CA native started 32 out of 35 games while sporting a 29-3 record. Bell stopped 224 out of 433 shots for a .517 save percentage.
Malia Josephson claims her first All-Conference honor in her fifth season on Grymes Hill, Josephson lead the team with 158 points in 35 games while scoring 76 goals and dishing out a team-leading 82 assists. The Mount Maunganui, New Zealand native tallied 33 steals and drew 33 exclusions.
Andrea Arias led the Seahawks with 98 goals on 177 shots to go along with a .554 save percentage. In her first season on Grymes Hill, the Madrid, Spain native tallied 125 points, 27 assists, 47 drawn exclusions and 32 steals.
In her first season on Grymes Hill,
Mar Navarro claimed her first All-Conference honor after starting all 35 games and scoring 57 goals on 109 shots. The Barcelona, Spain native finished the regular season with 60 assists, 117 points, and a .523 shooting percentage.
This weekend, the Seahawks will travel to Poughkeepsie, NY to participate in the MAAC tournament along with LIU, Marist, and La Salle.
The Seahawks will take on the #4 seed La Salle in the first semifinal on Saturday, April 23 at 12:00 P.M. while #2 LIU and #3 Marist will square off in the second semifinal at 3:00 P.M.
