Bridgeport, Pa. – (November 17, 2023) – Prior to the start of the 2023 MAWPC Championship, the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference has released its major award winners and All-League performers. The award list is led by Fordham junior
George Papanikolaou, who was named the league's Most Valuable Player, and Fordham head coach
Brian Bacharach, who earned Coach of the Year honors.
Additionally, Papanikolaou and
Luca Silvestri were named First Team All-League with
Jacopo Parrella garnering Second Team accolades.
A 2023 USA Water Polo Cutino Award candidate, Papanikolaou is Fordham's third consecutive league MVP, following
Nir Gross in 2022 (MAWPC) and Hans Zdolsek in 2021 (MAWPC East). He also joins
Jake Miller-Tolt (2017-19) as the only Rams to receive First Team All-League honors in three consecuctive seasons.
Papanikolaou has had an outstanding regular season with team-highs of 62 goals and 76 assists in 29 games, while having a team-best 48 steals to go with 10 blocks on defense. During the year, he received Player of the Week honors once and moved into second place on Fordham's modern day leaders for career assists (202), points (394), and steals (166).
A year after being an Honorable Mention selection, Silvestri garnered First Team accolades on Friday after tying for the team lead in goals with Papanikolaou at 62, while adding 28 assists, 47 steals, and a team-high 17 blocks. He also led the Rams with 22 man-advantage goals, while earning three MAWPC weekly awards during the course of the season (Player – once; Defensive Player – twice).
Parrella grabs All-League honors for the second time in his career, after taking First Team accolades back in 2021. He recorded his third consecutive 50-goal season, netting 50 in 27 games to go with 46 assists, 39 steals, and 13 blocks.
In his fifth season as Fordham's head coach, Bacharach receives his fourth Coach of the Year honor. He has the Rams entering the 2023 MAWPC Championship as the top seed and the two-time defending champion, following a 22-7 regular season with a 12-0 mark in the MAWPC. Fordham has also been nationally ranked all season long, reaching as high as 15
th in the CWPA Poll and 14
th in the ACWPC poll.
Fordham begins play at the 2023 MAWPC Championship in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, November 18
th, following an opening round bye. The Rams will play at 2:30 PM against the winner of the George Washington-Wagner quarterfinal match on Friday.
