Air Force Academy

Nov. 19, 2008

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Two Air Force water polo players were honored by the Western Water Polo Association, as the WWPA released its annual awards, voted on by the league's coaches. Juniors Jack Hines and Alex Churnside represented the Falcons on this year's all-conference teams, as a second-team and honorable mention selection, respectively.

Hines, a native of Riverside, Calif., captured second-team All-WWPA honors, after finishing the regular season with 39 goals (ranking tied for second on the team) and 17 assists. Both marks are career-highs for Hines, who is primarily a 2-meter defender. Hines earned WWPA Player of the Week honors earlier this season for his play against Iona, holding one of the nation's top scorers to just two goals in two games, while turning in a career-best five-goal performance in one of the contests against the Gaels.

Meanwhile, Churnside, a 2-meter offensive player from Orange, Calif., was named an honorable mention All-WWPA selection. Churnside currently ranks tied with Hines for second on the team in goals scored with 39, while adding a team-best 32 assists and 71 total points. He also ranks among the Falcons' top 25 career scorers, sitting in 17th place with 184 total points (103 goals, 81 assists).

Loyola Marymount, currently undefeated in conference play, swept the individual honors, garnering the awards for coach, player and newcomer of the year. John Loughran, who led the Lions to a 17-9 overall record and 8-0 mark in the WWPA, earned Coach of the Year honors for the fourth time in his career. Sophomore goalkeeper Andy Stevens, last year's top newcomer, earned Player of the Year honors after finishing the regular season with 244 saves, while Edgaras Asajavicius was named Newcomer of the Year, tallying 45 goals on the season to lead LMU.

The Falcons will head to the Western Water Polo Association Championship this weekend, Nov. 21-23, hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Air Force is seeded sixth and will take on third-seed UC Davis in its first game, slated for Friday at 1:15 p.m. (PT).

2008 Western Water Polo Association Men's Water Polo Honors
Player of the Year: Andy Stevens (So.) - GK - Loyola Marymount
Newcomer of the Year: Edgaras Asajavicius (Fr.) - Driver - Loyola Marymount
Coach of the Year: John Loughran - Loyola Marymount

First-Team All-WWPA
Andrew Becskehazy (Sr., Driver) - Redlands
Tim Hummel (Sr., Utility) - Loyola Marymount
Adi Jerkovich (Sr., Driver) - UC San Diego
A.J. Kotanjian (Sr., Utility) - UC San Diego
Grant Muenter (Sr., Driver) - UC Davis
Andy Stevens (So., Goalie) - Loyola Marymount
Jack Wall (Jr., Driver) - Santa Clara

Second-Team All-WWPA
Adam Bennett (Sr., Utility) - UC Davis
Tibor Forai (So., Driver) - Loyola Marymount
Daniel Garcia (Jr., 2M Offense) - UC San Diego
Ben Hadley (So., Utility) - Pomona-Pitzer
Jack Hines (Jr., 2M Defense) - Air Force
Brendan Meaney (Jr., Center) - Redlands
Casey Regehr (Jr., Goalie) - Whittier

Honorable Mention All-WWPA
Ryan Balikian (So., Utility) - Pomona-Pitzer
Alex Churnside (Jr., 2M Offense) - Air Force
Andrew Cosentino (So., Driver) - Claremont
Liam Farrell (Jr., Utility) - Santa Clara
Adam Lindsey (Sr., 2M Defense) - UC Davis
Julien Lormant (Sr., Utility) - Loyola Marymount
David Morton (Fr., Goalie) - UC San Diego
Alex Mule (Jr., Utility) - Chapman
Chris Parolin (Sr., Utility) - Santa Clara

WWPA All-Freshman Team
Edgaras Asajavicius - Loyola Marymount
James Case - Santa Clara
Luke Collins - UC Davis
Tyler Harp - Redlands
Alex Hernandez - Whittier
Jason Moler - Pomona-Pitzer
David Morton (GK) - UC San Diego
Vincent Schiavoni - Claremont-Mudd-Scripps