Courtesy: MAAC Sports
EDISON, NJ (Mar. 1, 2021) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) has announced Marist College as the 2021 MAAC Water Polo preseason favorite, as voted on by the league’s head coaches.
Marist picked up six first-place votes and 48 total points to claim the top spot in the poll. Iona College followed in second-place with 38 points. Long Island University (LIU) received one first-place vote and secured a third-place finish with 30 points to complete the top three.
Virginia Military Institute (VMI) placed fourth with 25 points, La Salle University placed fifth with 23 points, Villanova University placed sixth with 19 points, and Siena College placed seventh with 13 points, to close out the preseason poll.
Marist College’s Justine Castro was named Preseason Player of the Year and Marina Hyham, also of Marist, was named the Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year.
Castro and Hyham are joined on the Preseason All-MAAC Team by Jordan Van Reeken (utility, Iona), Sarah DeFusco (attack, La Salle), Viktoria Orlova (utility, Marist), Georgia Vargas (utility, Siena), Kaysie Stuba (utility, Villanova), and McKenna Imset (center, Virginia Military Institute).
| Preseason Coaches’ Poll | ||
| 1 | Marist (6) | 48 |
| 2 | Iona | 38 |
| 3 | LIU (1) | 30 |
| 4 | Virginia Military | 25 |
| 5 | La Salle | 23 |
| 6 | Villanova | 19 |
| 7 | Siena | 13 |
| Preseason Player of the Year |
| Justine Castro – Marist |
| Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year |
| Marina Hyham – Marist |
| Preseason All-MAAC Team | |||
| Player | Position | Year | Institution |
| Jordan van Reeken | Utility | Sr. | Iona |
| Sarah DeFusco | Attacker | Sr. | La Salle |
| Justine Castro | Utility | Gr. | Marist |
| Viktoria Orlova | Utility | Jr. | Marist |
| Georgia Vargas | Utility | Jr. | Siena |
| Kaysie Stuba | Utility | Jr. | Villanova |
| McKenna Imset | Center | R-Jr. | Virginia Military |
Once again, the 2021 MAAC Water Polo Championship will be held at McCann Natatorium on the campus of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Marist has hosted the Water Polo Championship since 2003. Semifinal action begins Saturday, May 1. The consolation and championship games will be played the following day on Sunday, May 2.
For all information regarding the 2021 MAAC Water Polo Championship, visit maacsports.com/wp.
To stay up to date on MAAC Water Polo, visit MAACSports.com and follow @MAACSports on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #MAACWP.