April 27, 2009
2009 All-MPSF Awards And Teams
STANFORD, Calif. - Freshman two-meter Melissa Seidemann became the Stanford women's water polo team's third player to be named MPSF Newcomer of the Year on Monday, as the conference announced the All-MPSF teams and postseason awards. The Cardinal also landed four players on the various all-conference teams.
Seidemann, in addition to claiming the top newcomer award, also earned places on the All-MPSF Second Team and the All-Freshman Team. She also joined Silver (2006) and Oland (2008) as Stanford's Newcomer of the Year award winners.
Senior driver Lauren Silver earned her fourth straight All-MPSF honor, being named to the conference's first team for the second consecutive season. Junior driver Kelly Eaton and sophomore goalkeeper Amber Oland were each named honorable mention.Seidemann, a Walnut Creek native, made an immediate impact in the pool for the Cardinal, leading the team with 58 goals, a 2.15 goals per game average and 10 hat tricks through this past weekend's MPSF Tournament.
Filling one of the holes left on offense following the graduation of Jacquelyn Gauthier last year, Seidemann has dominated at the two-meter position as a rookie. Her ability to score consistently opened up more scoring opportunities for the Cardinal perimeter, as six of Seidemann's teammates have reached the 20-goal mark through April 26.
One of the highlights of her freshman campaign was at the Irvine Invitational, in which Seidemann netted 10 goals and three hat tricks, including one in the tournament final, where she scored the game-winner in Stanford's 11-10 sudden-death overtime victory over USC.
Silver, Stanford's leading goal scorer in each of her first three years on The Farm, bounced back strong after missing the team's first eight games. In 19 games this season, Silver has scored 37 goals for an average of 1.95 per game, which has ranked around the conference's top 10 throughout the season.
Monday's honor also made Silver the ninth Stanford women's water polo player to be twice named to the All-MPSF First Team.
Eaton earned her second All-MPSF honor with the selection to the third team. Eaton, who is second on the team with 39 goals and five hat tricks in 2009, was named to the All-Freshman team in 2007 as well as earning All-America honors last season.
Oland, last year's MPSF Newcomer of the Year, came on strong in the latter half of the season for the Cardinal, helping it to key victories over such teams as USC, UCLA, Hawai'i and California that cemented Stanford's standing among the nation's elite. The Santa Ana native stopped 7.47 shots per game over 19 appearances while allowing just 6.74 goals per contest.
USC's Kami Craig was named MPSF Player of the Year and San Jose State's Lou Tully was named Coach of the Year to round out the season-ending awards.
Stanford (24-3) will find out later today its selection to participate in the 2009 National Collegiate Championship as well as its seed and first-round opponent. The 2009 National Collegiate Championship is set to take place May 8-10 in College Park, Md.