Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Women's Water Polo's Barnett, Valdes Earn All-Conference Honors
4/26/2012 8:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 26, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell women's water polo sophomore Julianne Valdes (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) and freshman Taylor Barnett (Houston, Texas/Clear Lake) were named Second Team Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) All-Southern Division, the league office announced Thursday evening. Additionally, Barnett was named the conference's Rookie of the Year, becoming just the second Bison to earn that award, following 2006 honoree Aubrey Rowe.
Barnett leads Bucknell with 63 goals this year, the seventh-highest total in program history, and just 12 behind Rowe's standard of 75. The CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the Week and Susquehanna Valley Limousine Bison Athlete of the Week on April 9, Barnett has scored at least one goal in nine consecutive games and posted eight straight multi-goal outings during that span. She has tallied 28 goals during that nine-game stretch.
Barnett has recorded 20 multi-goal games this season. She tallied a season-high seven goals in a win over George Washington. The seven goals tied the school single-game mark.
One of five Bison to start at least 30 games this spring, Barnett paces the squad with 74 ejections drawn, the fifth-highest single-season total in program history. She has drawn at least one ejection in all but seven outings, including a season-high seven in that same contest against the Colonials where she netted seven goals.
Barnett enters this weekend's Eastern Championship third on the team with 70 points and is among the team leaders in steals with 22.
Valdes earned her first career all-conference nod thanks to totaling 100 points (55g, 45a). She is just the fourth different Bison to notch 100 points in a season and she ranks tied for sixth on the program's single-season list in that category.
Valdes has scored at least one goal in 25 of the last 28 games and has registered six multi-goal outings in her last seven contests, including a team-high eight goals at the Southern Championships. She has been held without a point just three times all season.
A starter in all 35 games, Valdes has become a valuable sprinter for the Bison. She has won 69 of 84 sprints since taking over the role mid-season. She has captured 39 of 41 over the last 12 games and her .821 winning percentage is the best in school history.
In addition to leading the Bison in points, Valdes is tied for the team lead with 46 steals, third in ejections drawn with 48 and first in field blocks with 14.
One of just two current Bucknell players with more than 100 career goals (102), Valdes enters the Eastern Championship 15 points shy of 200 in her career.
Barnett, Valdes and the rest of the Bison have a busy weekend ahead of them. The eighth-seeded Bucknell squad will face ninth-seeded George Washington in the first round of the Eastern Championship Friday at 9 a.m. The three-day event runs through Sunday at Brown's Moran Coleman Aquatics Center. The winner of the 12-team Eastern Championship receives an automatic berth to next month's NCAA Championship.
