STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford finished 23-6 overall, its 12th straight campaign with more than 20 wins, and advanced to the NCAA title game for the seventh consecutive season, but ultimately was unable to collect its third straight national championship.
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS » The Cardinal, which fell to USC on a goal in the waning seconds of the national final, finished runner-up for the seventh time (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2013). Stanford has never finished lower than third at the NCAA Championships.
SEVEN ALL-AMERICANS » Seven Cardinal earned All-America status when the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) announced its 2016 Division I All-America teams. Jamie Neushul led the way in landing on the first team for the first time while Jordan Raney and Kat Klass earned spots on the second team. Julia Hermann and Dani Jackovich received third-team recognition and Gurpreet Sohi and Anna Yelizarova were picked as honorable mention All-Americans.
RECORD ACADEMIC HAULS » Stanford set a program record with 15 women's water polo players named to the All-Academic list released by the ACWPC. Stanford's 15 honorees, easily the most in the MPSF and tied with Brown for the most in the country, surpassed the 14 academic All-Americans from a year ago. The Cardinal has had at least 10 players earn ACWPC All-Academic distinction each of the past eight seasons. Additionally, a school-record 12 members of the Stanford women's water polo team earned 2016 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Academic accolades.
PAC-12 ALL-CENTURY » Four-time Olympic medalist Brenda Villa was named the Pac-12 Player of the Century to lead a conference-best seven Cardinal on the 16-member Pac-12 All-Century squad. Stanford's all-century representatives are: Annika Dries (2010-11, 2013-14), Ellen Estes (1997-98, 2001-02), Jackie Frank (2000-03), Kiley Neushul (2012-15), Melissa Seidemann (2009-11, 2013), Maggie Steffens (2013-15) and Brenda Villa (2001-03).
CLASS OF THE CONFERENCE » Kat Klass was named MPSF Newcomer of the Year to headline Stanford's six honorees when the conference announced its postseason awards. Jamie Neushul and Jordan Raney were named to the All-MPSF first team, Julia Hermann and Anna Yelizarova earned All-MPSF honorable mention nods and Klass was joined on the list of the best first-year players by fellow freshman Madison Berggren. Klass is Stanford's sixth MPSF Newcomer of the Year award winner, joining Jordan Raney (2015), Kiley Neushul (2012), Melissa Seidemann (2009), Amber Oland (2008) and Lauren Silver (2006).
MPSF » Stanford went 4-2 in conference action. Its 8-3 loss to USC on April 16 was the Cardinal's first regular-season league defeat since 2009. Stanford had won a conference-record 43 consecutive MPSF contests.
SEEING THE STATS » Stanford finished second in the MPSF in goals per game (11.31), trailing USC (11.81), but ahead of UCLA (11.23), and fifth in goals allowed per game (5.55). Individually, Jamie Neushul led the Cardinal and was fifth in the conference in goals per game (1.69). Kat Klass was eighth (1.59), Anna Yelizarova was 14th (1.45), Gurpreet Sohi was 19th (1.31) and Dani Jackovich was 25th (1.10). Julia Hermann's 5.67 goals against average was eighth in the conference and her 8.81 saves per game were fifth.
CONCLUDING A CAREER » In their four years on The Farm, Rachel Johnson, Gurpreet Sohi and Anna Yelizarova led Stanford to a 102-12 record and a pair of national championships.
RIO » Stanford went in search of its third straight national championship without some key pieces from last season's squad, including its three first team All-Americans from a season ago. Graduated seniors Kiley Neushul, the 2015 Cutino Award winner, and Ashley Grossman were with the USA Senior Women's National Team as it prepared for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. That duo was joined by ACWPC Player of the Year Maggie Steffens, who took a year off from Stanford to go in search of her second Olympic gold medal. Makenzie Fischer, a would-be freshman on The Farm, deferred a year to join the Cardinal contingent on Team USA and senior goalkeeper Gabby Stone is also trained with the United States. Fischer, Neushul, alumna Melissa Seidemann and Steffens were named to the U.S. Olympic Women's Water Polo Team by head coach Adam Krikorian during a press conference held at the LA84 Foundation in Los Angeles on June 16.
WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES » Stanford had an early start to building a cohesive unit heading into this season. Over the summer, the Cardinal represented the United States at the World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea. After going 1-2-1 in pool play, the U.S. went 2-1 in its final three games to come in fifth out of the 10-team field. Jamie Neushul led the U.S. at the World University Games in goals, scoring 18 (2.6 per game) and freshman Kat Klass joined her in double figures rattling the cage 11 times (1.6 per game). Defensively, Raney contributed five field blocks in South Korea, while Cassidy Papa and Shannon Cleary added four each. Gabby Stone and Jamie Neushul had nine steals apiece, Dani Jackovich added seven and Kat Klass five.
JUNIOR WORLDS » Stanford All-Americans Jamie Neushul and Jordan Raney helped the United States repeat as FINA Junior World Champions with an undefeated run to the title in Volos, Greece in August. Team USA outscored its opponents 106 to 46 over the six games, which were capped with a 13-10 victory over Spain in the championship. Neushul, who served as captain for the United States, scored 14 goals, including three hat tricks, while Raney, the reigning MPSF Newcomer of the Year, added six.
Madison Berggren
- MPSF All-Newcomer Team
Natalie Chun
- ACWPC All-Academic – Excellent
Shannon Cleary
- ACWPC All-Academic - Superior
- MPSF All-Academic
Katie Dudley
- ACWPC All-Academic - Superior
- MPSF All-Academic
- MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week (March 29)
Julia Hermann
- ACWPC Third Team All-American
- ACWPC All-Academic - Superior
- All-NCAA Tournament First Team
- All-MPSF Honorable Mention
- MPSF All-Academic
- MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week (Feb. 23)
Dani Jackovich
- ACWPC Third Team All-American
- ACWPC All-Academic - Excellent
- MPSF All-Academic
Rachel Johnson
- ACWPC All-Academic - Excellent
- MPSF All-Academic
Kat Klass
- ACWPC Second Team All-American
- ACWPC All-Academic - Outstanding
- MPSF Newcomer of the Year
- MPSF All-Newcomer Team
- MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week (April 26)
- MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week (March 29)
- MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week (March 8)
- MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week (Jan. 19)
Sophia Monaghan
- MPSF All-Academic
Jamie Neushul
- ACWPC First Team All-American
- ACWPC All-Academic - Superior
- All-NCAA Tournament First Team
- All-MPSF First Team
- MPSF All-Tournament Team
- MPSF All-Academic
Lauren Norheim
- ACWPC All-Academic - Outstanding
- MPSF All-Academic
Cassidy Papa
- ACWPC All-Academic - Excellent
- MPSF All-Academic
Jordan Raney
- ACWPC Second Team All-American
- ACWPC All-Academic - Excellent
- All-NCAA Tournament Second Team
- All-MPSF First Team
- MPSF All-Tournament Team
- MPSF All-Academic
Gurpreet Sohi
- ACWPC All-America Honorable Mention
- ACWPC All-Academic - Excellent
- MPSF All-Academic
Cassidy Wiley
- ACWPC All-Academic – Excellent
Mackenzie Wiley
- ACWPC All-Academic – Excellent
Anna Yelizarova
- ACWPC All-America Honorable Mention
- ACWPC All-Academic - Excellent
- All-MPSF Honorable Mention
- MPSF All-Academic