Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Hands Out End-of-Year Awards
4/21/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
April 21, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's water polo campaign may have come to a close nearly five months ago, but head coach John Abdou recognized 10 players at the team's annual awards banquet this past weekend. Senior Gabriel Heiber (Caracas, Venezuela/Miami Beach (Fla.)) was awarded the prestigious Scott Schulte Award, the team's highest honor.
Also honored were sophomore Richie Hyden (Melbourne, Australia/Greenwich (Conn.)), last year's Rookie of the Year recipient, as Offensive MVP, juniors Nick Donahue (Brooklyn, N.Y./Lawrenceville) and Johnny Stupp (St. Louis, Mo./Mary Institute) with Defensive MVP accolades, Coaches Award recipients Alex Lampley (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) and Alex Lovell (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Chadwick), Most Improved winner sophomore Howie Kalter (Durham, N.H./Phillips Academy Andover) and Rookies of the Year Beau Caillouette (Newport Beach, Calif./Sage Hill School) and Spencer Richley (Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor).
Along with these six awards, juniors Randy Ang (Hillsborough, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) and Stupp were named co-captains for the 2009 season in a team vote that was ratified by Abdou and assistant coach Paul Rave.
The Scott Schulte Award was established to honor the two-time water polo All-American and is presented annually to "the individual who contributes the most to Bucknell water polo". This season, Heiber, a Second-Team All-Conference selection, recorded 39 goals, the third-highest on the team, along with 13 assists. He drew 63 ejections this season, the second-highest figure recorded in a season in program history, behind only fellow senior Lampley's record-breaking efforts last fall. Over his four-year career for the Bison, Heiber recorded 93 goals and 26 assists. He is the career leader in ejections drawn with a total of 182, nearly 40 more than the previous record.
This season's Offensive MVP award was given to 2007 Rookie of the Year Hyden. This year, the sophomore scored a team-high 87 goals while registering 51 assists. He also won a team-best 39 of 56 sprints, giving him the seventh spot in the single season record books. Additionally, Hyden, who was an Honorable Mention All-American as well as First Team CWPA All-Southern Division selection, smashed the single season record for shots, tallying 220.
Classmates Donahue and Stupp shared the Defensive MVP award. Donahue, last year's Coaches Award winner and a 2008 Second-Team All-Conference selection, started 27 of 32 games in goal, after playing only nine games last year, starting in three of those. He made 213 saves and registered a .520 save percentage on the year. Before this season, his career saves numbered only 48 in two seasons.
Stupp was the only Bison to start all 33 games this season. He tallied a team-high 51 steals on the year. He also scored 25 goals and registered 43 assists, the second-highest total for a Bison this season. He finished the campaign just five goals shy of the century mark for his career.
Lampley and Lovell also shared an award this year, splitting the Coaches Award. This season, Lampley, also a Second-Team All-Conference member, registered a season record 66 ejections drawn. He also had 24 goals on 55 shots, while tallying three assists. Throughout his career at Bucknell, Lampley accumulated 125 ejections drawn, good for third on the Bucknell career list. He also scored 66 goals and registered 17 assists over his four-year career.
Lovell returned to the pool after missing the 2007 season with an injury. He was one of four Bison to play all 33 games, scoring eight goals and four assists. He also registered 26 shots and 11 steals. In only two seasons with the Bison, Lovell tallied 13 goals and six assists.
Last year, Kalter played in 15 games, starting just one. He registered just 4 goals and two assists, as well as seven shots in the season. This year, the sophomore made a dramatic improvement and was one of four Bison to play all 33 games, starting in 28 of them. Only Hyden and Stupp started more games this season. He scored 42 goals, the second-highest tally on the squad, while registering 31 assists and 98 shots, also second among Bison.
Caillouette played 32 of 33 games this season. He scored seven goals and had 11 assists coming off the bench, with a pair of two-goal games. The freshman also won one sprint on the year, the only one he contested. He tallied 11 ejections drawn and 20 shots.
Richley saw action in 25 games this season. He won four of four sprints for the Bison, while scoring four goals and seven assists. He also registered 14 shots and five steals.
Bucknell finished the season at 17-16, finishing above .500 for the third consecutive season despite facing 17 nationally ranked opponents. The Bison finished fifth at the Eastern Championship this past year.
Award Winners
Scott Schulte Award: Gabriel Heiber
Offensive MVP: Richie Hyden
Defensive MVPs: Nick Donahue, Johnny Stupp
Coaches Award: Alex Lampley, Alex Lovell
Most Improved: Howie Kalter
Rookies of the Year: Beau Caillouette, Spencer Richley
2009 Captains: Randy Ang, Johnny Stupp
