STANFORD, Calif. – Kat Klass was named MPSF Newcomer of the Year to headline Stanford’s six honorees when the conference announced its postseason awards on Tuesday afternoon.
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 becomes 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). She is second on Stanford with 41 total goals, averaging 1.58 per game in 26 outings. Her total is the most for a Stanford freshman since 2013. Klass, who collected four MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week honors during the year, has scored in a team-high 21 games and put home at least two on 10 occasions.
Jamie Neushul and Jordan Raney landed on the All-MPSF first team for the first time in their careers. The junior Neushul, who was an All-MPSF honorable mention selection last season, paces Stanford this year with a career-high 46 goals and 10 hat tricks. She is fourth in the league in goals per game (1.77) and has scored in all but seven of the Cardinal’s 26 contests. Neushul, a communication major, is six goals away from reaching 100 in her career.
Raney, last season’s MPSF Newcomer of the Year, is one of three underclassmen on the eight-member All-MPSF first team. The sophomore has scored 20 times in 2016, including four at last weekend’s MPSF Tournament. She’s had five multi-score efforts, including her second career hat trick early in the season against Michigan.
Both Neushul and Raney were also voted to the MPSF All-Tournament team on Tuesday morning.
In her first season of extended action after missing all of last year due to injury, Julia Hermann received her first conference accolade in earning a spot on the All-MPSF honorable mention squad. The redshirt sophomore human biology major, who was named MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week on February 23, is sixth in the league in saves per game (8.62) and seventh in goals against average (5.67). Her 213 total stops are third in the MPSF and the fourth-most for the Cardinal since 2001.
Anna Yelizarova worked her way onto the All-MPSF honorable mention team following 29 goals in 20 games thus far in 2016. Her goals per game average of 1.45 is 15th in conference and the senior computer science major is Stanford’s active leader in goals with 135 in her career.
Madison Berggren, a freshman from Tualatin, Oregon, joined Klass on the MPSF All-Newcomer team. She is one of Stanford’s eight 20-goal scorers (22) and has five multi-goal efforts, including three hat tricks. Stanford is the only school with multiple players on the MPSF All-Newcomer team.
Next weekend at UCLA, Stanford will go in search of its fifth national title in the past six seasons after earning an at-large berth to its 16th straight NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship. The Cardinal will begin its tournament on Friday, May 13 at 1:45 p.m. against UC Santa Barbara (18-12), champions of the Big West.