SDSU WATER POLO: KATE MCDONNELL NAMED GCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Award is the fourth of the season for San Diego State

Source:  goaztecs.com

Photo courtesy goaztecs.com

April 13, 2017 (San Diego) - San Diego State goalkeeper Kate McDonnell is the Golden Coast Conference Player of the Week, the league announced late Wednesday. The award is the first of her career and the fourth for 11^th-ranked SDSU this season.

The junior made a career-high 18 saves in the Aztecs’ key conference victory over No. 9 Pacific, which entered the game with an unblemished 3-0 GCC record. It was her eighth double-figure save effort of the season and her 18 stops eclipsed her previous personal best of 16, accomplished vs. No. 13 Indiana on March 12.

In the 8-7 victory, McDonnell was a part of a defense that kept the Tigers’ leading scorer, Kyra Christmas, out of the scoring column and was the backbone of a defense that shut out the Tigers on both of their 6-on-5 opportunities. Additionally, McDonnell helped limit a Pacific offense to just seven goals after it came into the game averaging 10.8 goals in its previous five games. The seven goals represented the Tigers’ lowest scoring output of the conference season.

The four GCC Player of the Week awards ties the program record for most weekly honors in a single season. Prior to McDonnell, Caroline Israels (twice) and Ioli Benekou were past recipients in 2017.

The Aztecs return to the pool this afternoon when they play host to Azusa Pacific and Concordia at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. PT, respectively.