Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Water Polo Sweeps CWPA Weekly Awards for Second Straight Week
4/28/2010 8:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 28, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - For the second straight week, and third time overall this year, the Bucknell women's water polo team swept the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division weekly awards, it was announced Wednesday by the league office. Kandis Canonica (Burlingame, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep) was named the Player of the Week, Alison Carter (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor) earned Defensive Player of the Week plaudits, while Tara Murao (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) picked up Rookie of the Week honors. Last week Canonica, Carter and Krystle Morgan swept the three awards.
Bucknell's three weekly awards come just days after the team claimed its first-ever Southern Championships title. The top-seeded Bison defeated No. 19 Princeton 11-9 in the title game after upending George Washington 10-2 in Saturday's semifinals.
Canonica earned her third Player of the Week honor this season after totaling a team-high six goals and one assist in the two games at the Southern Championships. The only Bison to post a pair of multi-goal outings, she had four goals and two ejections drawn against George Washington and followed that up with two goals, one assist and one ejection drawn in the title game.
A left-hander who as a junior already owns the Bucknell career assists record (171), Canonica now ranks third on the Bison career points list with 324 in her three-year career. She is just 27 shy of second-place Aubrey Rowe, and two ahead of fourth-place teammate Valentina Rozas. This year, Canonica is second on the team with 43 goals and leads the squad with 46 assists. She is 11 points shy of posting her third consecutive 100-point campaign, a feat that has never been accomplished in school history.
Carter was named Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this season after registering 23 saves in the two games over the weekend. She tallied 14 stops in the championship contest, her 11th double-figure save outing this season.
This year, Carter now has 227 saves, 17 shy of her career-best figure from 2008. She is also a mere 13 saves shy of becoming the third player in program history with 700 career stops.
Carter also recorded four steals and an assist at the Southern Championships.
Murao picked up Bucknell's fourth Rookie of the Week honor, and her second, this season thanks to one goal, one assist and four ejections drawn in the two games. All four ejections drawn came in the championship tilt against Princeton, as did her goal.
Murao now has 11 goals, 18 points and 31 ejections drawn this season. She ranked third on the team in ejections drawn, while her goal and point totals are second among freshmen.
Bucknell (15-9) will compete at the Eastern Championship this coming weekend. The Bison will open the three-day event against Princeton Friday at 1 p.m. The winner of the Eastern Championship earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships.
