Air Force Academy

Nov. 17, 2010

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -

Three Air Force water polo players were honored by the Western Water Polo Association today, as the league announced its annual awards, voted on by the league’s coaches. Senior Bobby Geiger (Buellton, Calif.) was named a second-team All-WWPA selection, classmate Kurt Lemmen (Orlando, Fla.) earned honorable mention all-conference honors and rookie Josh Stedman (Brea, Calif.) was named to the WWPA All-Freshman Team.

Geiger earns the first all-conference honors of his career after leading the Falcons’ offense throughout the season. One of the nation’s top goal scorers, he heads into this weekend’s conference tournament with 62 goals and a total of 75 points. In addition, Geiger ranks fifth all-time in career scoring at the Academy with 277 points and is fourth in career goals with 209.

Meanwhile, Lemmen also earns the first conference accolades of his career as the Falcons’ top 2-meter defenseman. In addition to his strong play on defense, Lemmen has scored 32 points, including a career-best 21 goals, this season. Finally, Stedman was honored as an all-freshman team member after finishing the regular season third on the team in goals (22) and points (36).

In addition to releasing its all-conference teams, the WWPA also announced the winners of this year’s major awards. Loyola Marymount senior Ikaika Aki was named the league’s Player of the Year, Whittier’s Erick Gonzalez was named the Newcomer of the Year and Coach of the Year honors were shared by Steve Doten of UC Davis and John Loughran of Loyola Marymount.

Air Force will head to the 2010 Western Water Polo Association Championship, hosted by Santa Clara, this weekend, Nov. 19-21. The seventh-seeded Falcons will face 10th-seed Chapman in the opening game of the tournament, with the winner advancing to play second-seed UC Davis.

Player of the Year: Ikaika Aki (Sr.) – Utility  –  Loyola Marymount

Newcomer of the Year: Erick Gonzalez (Fr.) – Attack – Whittier

Coach of the Year: Steve Doten – UC Davis/John Loughran – Loyola Marymount

First-Team All-WWPA

Ikaika Aki (Sr., Utility) – Loyola Marymount

Edgaras Asajavicius (Jr., Utility) – Loyola Marymount

Brian Donohoe (So., 2M Defense)  – UC San Diego

Stephen Hobbs (Sr., 2M Offense)  – Santa Clara

Carlos Martinez (Sr., Utility) – UC Davis

Aaron Salit (Jr., Center)  – UC Davis

Andy Stevens (Sr., Goalie) – Loyola Marymount

Second-Team All-WWPA

Ryan Allred (Sr., Driver)  – UC San Diego

James Case (Jr., Driver)  – Santa Clara

Brian Chong (Jr., Driver) – Claremont

Bobby Geiger (Sr., Driver) – Air Force

Ben Hadley (Sr., Attack) – Pomona-Pitzer

Brendan Meaney (Sr., Center) – Redlands

David Morton (Jr., Goalie) – UC San Diego

Honorable Mention All-WWPA

Ryan Balikian (Sr., Utility) – Pomona-Pitzer

Rilesh Desai (Sr., Utility) – Whittier

Colin Hicks (So., Attack) – UC Davis

Kurt Lemmen (Sr., 2M Defense) – Air Force

Chase Parlee (Sr., Driver) – Chapman

Daniel Smith (Sr., 2M Defense) – Loyola Marymount

Michael Wishart (Jr., Goalie) – Santa Clara

WWPA All-Freshman Team

Tucker Carlson – Santa Clara

Jarrod Gaut – Pomona-Pitzer

Erick Gonzalez – Whittier

Teddy Nicholson – UC Davis

Dane Sequeira – UC San Diego

Josh Stedman – Air Force