Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Remains No. 17 in National Rankings
9/6/2006 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 6, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - After debuting at No. 17 in the Preseason Collegiate Water Polo Association Top-20 Poll last week, the Bucknell men's water polo team remained at the same spot in the rankings during the first poll of the regular season, announced Wednesday by the CWPA. The Bison went 3-1 at last weekend's Navy Open with their only loss coming to No. 1 California.
In the rankings for the first time since 2004, when it also climbed to No. 17, Bucknell defeated Queens, No. 18 Santa Clara and MIT last weekend to equal its best start to a season since 2000.
The Bison are the fourth-highest ranked team outside of California. Only Navy (No. 12), St. Francis (N.Y.) (14) and Princeton (16) are ranked higher and not located within California.
Mark Masterson (Kihei, Hawaii/Marin), who is the reigning CWPA Southern Division Co-Player of the Week and the Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week, scored a team-high 12 goals and dished out two assists to rack up 14 points at the Navy Open. The senior team captain also recorded seven steals and drew five ejections in the four games. Five of those steals came in a tight 9-8 win over Santa Clara, which fell out of the Top 20 this week.
Juniors Kyle Roslyn (Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter) and Jason Rechel 9Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) rank second and third on the team in points with nine and eight, respectively. Both now have over 90 points in their careers.
Junior goalie Luke Belenky (Kensington, Md./German School) produced two 11-save performances over the weekend and has 28 saves on the season, while allowing just 24 goals for a .561 save percentage.
The Bison host the Bucknell Invitational at Kinney Natatorium this weekend and will be joined by a pair of other ranked teams. St. Francis (N.Y.) and No. 20 Johns Hopkins will join Bucknell in making more than half of the five-team field ranked squads.
