STANFORD, Calif. – Maggie Steffens was named MPSF Player of the Year and Jordan Raney earned MPSF Newcomer of the Year accolades to headline Stanford’s six honorees when the conference announced its postseason awards on Tuesday afternoon.
Steffens was joined on the All-MPSF First Team by teammate Kiley Neushul. Ashley Grossman and Gabby Stone landed on the All-MPSF Second Team while Jamie Neushul earned an All-MPSF honorable mention nod and Raney was the best of the nine-member All-MPSF Newcomer Team.
Steffens, who picked up her first league player of the year award with today’s announcement, landed on the All-MPSF First Team for the third time in her three years at Stanford. The junior is third on the Cardinal with 46 goals this season, has scored in 21 of 24 games, including seven hat tricks and is 12th in the MPSF in goals per game average (1.92).
The reigning FINA Women’s Water Polo Athlete of the Year, Steffens is Stanford’s first MPSF Player of the Year since Annika Dries in 2011. Other Cardinal to win the award include Brenda Villa (2003 and 2001) and Ellen Estes (1998).
Raney becomes Stanford’s fifth MPSF Newcomer of the Year award winner, joining Kiley Neushul (2012), Melissa Seidemann (2009), Amber Oland (2008) and Lauren Silver (2006). She collected a record five MPSF/Kap7 Newcomer of the Week honors during the year, including the final three consecutive weeks of the regular season.
The freshman is one of the Cardinal’s nine 20-goal performers this season with 23. She has scored in 17 games, put home multiple goals six times and notched her first career hat trick on April 12 against CSU Bakersfield.
Kiley Neushul landed on the All-MPSF First Team for the fourth straight season. The senior leads the Cardinal with 54 goals and is fifth in the league averaging 2.25 goals per game. She’s scored in all but one game this season for Stanford and registered a team-leading 10 hat tricks. Her 213 career goals are just one behind Ellen Estes for third in school history.
A two-time All-MPSF honorable mention awardee, Grossman earned her first spot on the All-MPSF Second Team in her senior season. A dominant two-meter force for the Cardinal, Grossman is second on the team with 50 goals and eighth in the conference averaging 2.08 per game. She’s 10th in Stanford history with 165 career goals and tallied a Stanford season-high six against San Diego State on Feb. 14.
Gabby Stone worked her way onto the All-MPSF Second Team after finishing on the honorable mention squad last season. A solid year in the cage for the junior has seen Stone average 8.06 saves per game and allow just 5.03 goals per outing. She made a career-high 15 stops against UC Davis on March 29 and has stopped 10 or more five times this season.
Stone was named MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week on Feb. 3 after Stanford won its home tournament, accumulating 27 saves in 13 quarters (8.31 S/G) to anchor the Cardinal at the Stanford Invitational. She had a pair of 10-save games against UC Irvine on Saturday and UCLA and posted a 5.23 goals-against average against three of the nation’s top seven teams.
Jamie Neushul rounded out the Cardinal’s MPSF picks by receiving honorable mention accolades. The sophomore is fourth on the team with 28 goals this season and has posted a pair of hat tricks. On March 10 she was named MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week following one of those hat tricks, pouring in three goals in Stanford’s 12-9 overtime win at USC in its MPSF opener.
Next weekend Stanford will go in search of its fourth national title in the past five seasons after earning an at-large berth to its 15th straight NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship. The Cardinal will begin its tournament on Friday, May 8 at noon against the winner of Princeton (29-3) and Wagner (25-8). Those two teams will meet at Princeton this Saturday at 10 a.m. PT. Stanford is hosting the National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championship for the third time and looking to break a streak that has yet to see a host win the NCAA Championship since the tournament began in 2001.
Tickets are available by calling 1-800-STANFORD or online at GoStanford.com. All-session passes are $60 for adults and $30 for students, seniors and youth. Single-day tickets cost $25 for adults and $15 for students, seniors and youth.