In a typical year, it would be obvious who the top contenders are for the best female collegiate water polo player in America. The criterion is usually: Are they on a top four (or five) team in the CWPA rankings? Is their team a legitimate contender for an NCAA title?
Do they play for Stanford?
I made that last one up; it’s just that almost half of all Cutino awardees for women (10) have played on The Farm, including the last three: sisters Aria and Mackenzie Fisher (twice), both of whom led their Cardinal teammates to NCAA titles. Aria won hers solo last year; Makenzie—with help from her sister (and many others!) won in 2022. Oh, and Stanford also won with both in 2019 as Makenzie copped the Cutino that year, her first.
So, in any normal year, the Cutino winner is the best player on the team that wins the national championship. Well, most times.
This is NOT a normal year. It’s an Olympic year, so the best collegiate players—both American and foreign—are training with their national teams, hoping to get a spot in the Paris Games this summer.
Because of this there’s no clear favorite for 2024. The Olympic Club, which annually presents the award to the best male and female collegiate player, recently put out a watchlist of 22 candidates selected by NCAA head coaches. The coaches pick six athletes—with a cap of three from their own school. Usually it’s 20 athletes but this year there was a tie so the list grew to 22.
In case you’re wondering (I did!), the watch list and the final nominees are two separate things. So none of this may make sense by the time the awards banquet is held on June 1 in San Francisco.
What’s great about this list is that schools like Brown, Salem, Mount St. Mary’s, Wagner and others had athletes nominated. They do not usually get votes for best player, but why not? What’s puzzling is that no one from Loyola Marymount, the nation’s hottest program outside of UCLA, made the cut. Yet.
All athletes are arranged alphabetically. Statistics are through April 7, 2024.
TOP FIVE CONTENDERS:
Alba Bonamusa Boix; Hawai’i (Senior; Attacker)
Boix is arguably the best player for one of the country’s best programs. She leads the Rainbow Wahine with 72 points (40 goals, 32 assists) and 14 field blocks. If Hawai’i makes it to the NCAA final, there’s a Cutino case to be made for Boix or one of the other two Wahine on this list. It should be noted that in the award’s quarter century existence, only two men—Pacific’s Balazs Erdelyi (twice) and UC-Irvine’s Tim Hutten—from non-Pac 12 schools have won a Cutino. And one woman from outside the Pac 12: Ashleigh Johnson.
Hawai’i’s Alba Bonamusa Boix is one of a trio of Wahine under consideration for a Cutino Award as the best female player in NCAA water polo. Photo Courtesy: Hawai’i Athletics
Lara Luka, Long Beach State (Senior; Utility)
Luka leads LBS and the Big West conference with 77 goals and 45 assists. She’s scored in 25 of 26 games this season, including 22 straight. Her defense is also good; she’s second on the team in steals. As Luka goes so goes The Beach. And she goes hard all the time.
Anna Pearson, UCLA (Sophomore; Utility)
With 34 goals and 71 earned exclusions. Pearson is an integral player on the nation’s top team. Now, she’s not the only reason the Bruins are favorites for an NCAA title but if they do win, someone’s gonna be recognized, so Pearson could be it.
Luca Petovary; Arizona State (Senior; Attacker)
When it comes to stats, nobody in the MPSF is better than Petovary. She’s put up huge numbers this season—117 goals, 28 assists, 31 exclusions drawn, 12 field blocks—part of why the Sun Devils are already 11 wins better than last year. But she’s leading a team that has no chance at a title and will likely finish fifth or sixth in her conference. Still, she will end up the top scorer in the best conference in the sport; that counts for something.
Isabel Williams; California (Senior; Goalkeeper)
With 210 saves, a .700 save percentage and 24 steals this season, barring injury Williams will break Cal’s all-time saves record for women. If the Golden Bears make the final this year, Williams will likely be the critical difference—and become the fifth female goalie to win a Cutino. Williams’ biggest challenge may be UCLA and freshman goalie Lauren Steele, not nominated but integral to the Bruins’ success.
THE NEXT FIVE WATER POLO CANDIDATES:
Bia Mantellato Dias; Hawai’i (Sophomore; Center)
If Hawai;i wins a national championship, Dias, who has a wicked shot, will be a big contributor. With 55 goals and 6 assists, she is the Wahine’s leading goal scorer.
Panni Szegedi; UCLA (Freshman; Utility)
A freshman, Szegedi is second on the Bruins with 30 goals and is often at the center of attention on both sides of the ball (with UCLA Head Coach Adam Wright exhorting her to get in position on defense). Blazing fast and from Hungary, Szegedi may be the X-factor for Wright’s squad.
Madison Walker; UC-Santa Barbara (Sophomore; Goalkeeper)
Walker—196 saves, .534 save percentage, 8.11 goals-against average, 37 steals in 26 appearances—has anchored a stout Gaucho defense that’s second best in the Big West, including 18 matches holding opponents to single-digits in goals.
Sophie Wallace; Stanford University (Graduate; 2M Defender)
Remember what I said about Stanford having a recent monopoly on the award? Wallace leads the Cardinal in many offensive and defensive stats: 43 goals, 26 assists, 20 exclusions drawn, 20 steals, 6 field blocks. If Stanford wins a third-straight NCAA title, Wallace will get a lot of attention for her efforts.
Kayla Yelensky; Princeton University (Junior; Utility)
Like Petovary for ASU, Yalensky—with 56 goals, 19 assists, 27 steals, 35 exclusions drawn, 9 field blocks—is a stat stuffer for the Tigers. The difference: Princeton is likely to make it to NCAAs. If the Tigers make another run to the Final Four, like they did last year, Yelensky will be the focal point.
ALL THE REST:
Dora Alaksza; Pacific (Sophomore; Attacker)
Alaksza—with 77 goals, 12 assists, 32 steals—has the best stats of anyone in the Golden Coast Conference.
Libby Alsemgeest; Michigan (Senior; Center)
One of two Wolverines nominated. 32 goals, 106 exclusions drawn and 17 steals for the #2 team in CWPA.
Hailey Andress; Fresno State (Sophomore; Attacker)
Fresno State is looking at a fourth-straight GCC title; Andress—59 goals, 14 assists, 37 steals—will be key if they get there.
Andrea Arias; Wagner College (Senior; Center)
Other Seahawks—Carlota Alonso (95 goals, 29 assists, 50 steals)—have better stats than Arias, with 73 goals, 27 assists, 7 field blocks. But 71 exclusions drawn underscores her value to the MAAC’s best team.
Maya Avital; Stanford (Senior; Goalkeeper)
Avital has 136 saves in 15 starts sharing time with Christine Carpenter and Jackie King
Elle Fredrickson; Santa Clara University (Senior; Center)
Fredrickson leads the Broncos with 34 goals and 39 exclusions drawn and is a bright spot a team on track for 20 losses.
Lucia Gomez de la Puente; Hawai’i (Senior; Attacker)
38 goals, 34 assists and 8 field blocks for the #2 scorer on the nation’s #2 team
Taeghen Hack; Salem University (Senior; Attacker/Utility)
Hack is having an outstanding season for the Tigers—50 goals, 37 assists. Salem went to NCAAs two years ago when Hack was a sophomore.
Ana Luisa Miguel Gomes Cotta; Mount St. Mary’s University (Senior; Attacker)
The Mount has qualified for a second consecutive MAAC playoff; Cotta, who leads MSM with 61 goals, 35 assists and 28 steals, has been key to that success.
Madeleine Poissonnier; Brown University (Sophomore; Defender)
Poissonnier has 20 goals, 11 assists and 17 steals for a Bear squad that’s fighting for third in the CWPA.
Kata Utassy; Michigan (Senior; Attacker)
Top scorer on the Wolverines with 60 goals, 32 assists, 24 steals, 7 blocks.
Claudia Valdes; San Diego State (Sophomore; Attacker)
Valdes has 59 goals, 29 steals and 14 field blocks, all tops on the Aztecs water polo, as well as 24 assists.