2018 Season In Review2018 Season In Review
John P. Lozano/Stanford Athletics
Women's Water Polo

2018 Season In Review

Stanford (20-4, 3-2 MPSF)
Statistics


WHAT HAPPENED?Stanford finished 20-4 overall, its 14th straight campaign with more than 20 wins, and advanced to the NCAA title game for the ninth consecutive season, but ultimately was unable to collect its seventh national championship.


NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPThe Cardinal, which fell to host USC 5-4 on a late fourth-quarter goal in the national final, finished runner-up for the eighth time (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2018). Stanford is the only team to appear in all 18 NCAA championships since its inception in 2001 and has racked up a record of 38-12 all-time at the event.


SIX ALL-AMERICANSSix Cardinal earned All-America status when the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) announced its 2018 Division I All-America teams. Makenzie Fischer and Jordan Raney led the way on the first team while Aria Fischer earned a spot on the second team. Julia Hermann and Kat Klass received third-team recognition and Katie Dudley was picked as an honorable mention All-American.


CLASS OF THE CONFERENCEMakenzie Fischer, Jordan Raney and Aria Fischer were honored by the MPSF when the conference announced its all-league selections. Makenzie Fischer and Raney were named to the All-MPSF first team and Aria Fischer earned a spot on the All-MPSF second team as well as the MPSF All-Newcomer Team. It was the ninth consecutive season Stanford has had a pair of first teamers.

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YEAR TWOA 2016 Olympic gold medalist, Makenzie Fischer put together a superb sophomore campaign in which she paced Stanford with 67 goals, the fifth-most in school history. She also led the MPSF averaging 2.79 goals per game, the best for the Cardinal over the past decade (records since 2009).

Fischer, who was named to the NCAA All-Tournament first team, was dominant down the stretch. In the season's final 12 games, she scored 44 times and averaged 3.67 goals per game. Fischer had multi-score performances in 19 of Stanford's 24 games this season and has scored at least two goals in 37 of the 50 collegiate games she's played.

The first team All-American was one of three finalists for the Peter J. Cutino Award and her 3.99 GPA also garnered her a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-District Women's At-Large first team.


WAY TO FINISHJordan Raney earned her first first-team All-America honor in her senior season. Also on the All-NCAA Tournament first team and All-MPSF first team, she was sixth on Stanford this year with 20 goals. Raney led the Cardinal in scoring with seven goals in three games at the NCAA championship in Los Angeles and finished her career with 95 career goals and a pair of national titles. She scored in 14 games and had four multi-goal efforts, including a career-high tying four goals in an 11-7 NCAA semifinal victory over No. 3 California on May 12.


SUMMER WITH USAWPRaney received her first senior women's national team action this summer and won gold at the FINA World Championships in Budapest with current teammates Makenzie and Aria Fischer and Stanford alums Jamie Neushul, Kiley Neushul, Melissa Seidemann, Maggie Steffens, Gabby Stone. The United States won gold at the 2017 World University Games in Taipei in August behind the play of eight Cardinal. Current undergrads Madison Berggren, Aria Fischer, Kat Klass and Jordan Raney were joined by alumnae Dani Jackovich, Jamie Neushul, Kiley Neushul and Gabby Stone as the U.S. rolled to eight wins and outscored its opponents 127 to 38. Freshman Sarah Klass and the United States finished fifth at the FINA Junior World Championship in Greece in September. Klass played in all seven games and scored six times on 15 shots to go along with a pair of assists.

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FRESHMAN FISCHERA two-time MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week, Aria Fischer earned a second-team nod in her debut season at Stanford. The freshman was a two-time MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week and finished fourth on the team with 35 goals. She was 13th in the conference in goals per game (1.46), scored in eight of the Cardinal's final nine games and led all MPSF freshmen in scoring in league contests with a 1.60 goals per game average. Fischer, a 2016 Olympic gold medalist, also earned All-NCAA Tournament second team, All-MPSF second team and MPSF All-Newcomer accolades this season.


HERMANN STRONG IN THE CAGEIn her second season as Stanford's primary goalkeeper, redshirt senior Julia Hermann earned her second All-America third team selection to go along with the one she won in 2016. Hermann finished second in the MPSF in goals against average (5.35) and fifth in saves per game (8.54). She had five of her seven double-digit save performances in the season's final seven games, including two at the NCAA championship in Los Angeles against No. 3 California and No. 1 USC. Hermann, who was on the NCAA All-Tournament second team this year, finished her career fifth in school history in saves (469).


SEEING THE STATSStanford was second in the MPSF in both goals per game (11.88) and goals allowed per game (5.08), trailing USC slightly in both team offense (12.26) and defense (4.85). Individually, Makenzie Fischer led in goals per game (2.79), Kat Klass was ninth (1.63), Madison Berggren 11th (1.50) and Aria Fischer is 13th (1.46). Julia Hermann's 5.35 goals against average was second in the conference and her 8.54 saves per game were fifth.


CENTURY MARKStanford will return a pair of career 100-goal scorers in 2019 in Makenzie Fischer (121) and Kat Klass (113). Klass rattled the cage for the 100th time during match at UC Santa Barbara on March 28. Fischer got hers in the regular-season finale at San Jose State on April 22.


KLASS COLLECTS HONORKlass received her second All-America accolade to go along with the second-team nod she garnered as a freshman in 2016. The junior was second on the team with 39 goals and ninth in the MPSF in scoring average (1.63). She scored in all but three games this season, had 11 multi-goal performances and four hat tricks. Klass, on this year's NCAA All-Tournament second team, was the Cardinal's second-leading scorer at the NCAA championship in Los Angeles, pouring in six goals, including three in the semifinal win over No. 3 California.


DUDLEY GOES OUT AN ALL-AMERICANSenior Katie Dudley played her way into her first All-America nod in her final season at Stanford after scoring 21 goals in 24 games. Working at two meters, Dudley scored at least 20 goals in each of her four collegiate seasons and finished with 90 in her career. This season, she rattled the cage in 13 games and tied a career-high with five goals in a 16-4 victory over No. 8 Pacific on February 3.

Stanford's seniors posted a 91-15 overall record (.858) and won a pair of NCAA championships.

Shannon Cleary

  • MPSF All-Academic

Katie Dudley

  • ACWPC All-America Honorable Mention
  • MPSF All-Academic

Emalia Eichelberger

  • MPSF All-Academic

Aria Fischer

  • ACWPC Second Team All-American
  • All-NCAA Tournament Second Team
  • All-MPSF Second Team
  • MPSF All-Newcomer Team
  • MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week (Feb. 27)
  • MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week (Jan. 30)

Makenzie Fischer

  • Peter J. Cutino Award Finalist
  • ACWPC First Team All-American
  • All-NCAA Tournament First Team
  • All-MPSF First Team
  • MPSF All-Tournament Team
  • CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large First Team
  • MPSF All-Academic
  • MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week (April 3)

Julia Hermann

  • ACWPC Third Team All-American
  • All-NCAA Tournament Second Team
  • MPSF All-Academic
  • MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week (Feb. 27)

Kat Klass

  • ACWPC Third Team All-American
  • All-NCAA Tournament Second Team
  • MPSF All-Academic
  • MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week (Feb. 6)

Jordan Raney

  • ACWPC First Team All-American
  • All-NCAA Tournament First Team
  • All-MPSF First Team
  • MPSF All-Academic

Hannah Shabb

  • MPSF All-Academic

Cassidy Wiley

  • MPSF All-Academic

Mackenzie Wiley

  • MPSF All-Academic