2024 Men's Water Polo All-Big West Teams.pdf  | Watch the Video 

The 2024 All-Big West men's water polo major awards and teams have been unveiled, following the conclusion of The Big West Men's Water Polo Championship. Student-athletes from all six schools are represented throughout the lists of honors.     

Long Beach State freshman center Gabi Acosta garners both Big West Player and Freshman of the Year Accolades after scoring a league-high 63 times, four assists (67 points) 27 steals, and 33 drawn exclusions this year. Acosta averaged a Big West-best 2.86 goals per contest as well. The Barcelona, Spain native notched 23 multi-goal games in the freshman's 24 starts this season, reaching a career-high four goals four times. During the MPSF Invitational, Acosta accumulated 10 goals against the likes of the best competition in the nation. Acosta was awarded the Player of the Week for the freshman's performance in the invite.  

The Big West Coach of the Year honor will go to Gavin Arroyo of Long Beach State. The 18th-year head coach aided the Beach to a 20-10 overall record and a 2-3 record in conference action. LBSU landed two top 20 wins to cap off the regular season and rattled off three consecutive victories in the postseason to be crowned conference champions. The Beach edged fourth-seeded UCSB 12-9, knocked off top-seeded and defending champion UC Irvine 15-13, and completed the championship run in climatic fashion versus No. 2 seed UCSD, 10-8. Arroyo guides LBSU into its 19th overall appearance in the NCAA Championship next week on Dec. 6 at 6 p.m. versus No. 3 Fordham. The game will broadcast via NCAA.com.  

Long Beach State celebrates four first-teamers outside of Acosta, including senior attacker Evan Cain, senior utility Bruno Chiappini, redshirt attacker Caleb Francisco, and senior goalkeeper and 2024 Big West Championship MVP, Aaron Wilson.  

Cain collects first-team honors again after doing so in 2023, this time after contributing 48 goals, 18 assists, and 17 drawn exclusions. Chiappini collected a Beach-high 81 points (42 goals, 39 assists) and gets another first-team nod in 2024. Francisco made the top list after finding the back of the 47 times this year. Wilson led all Big West goalkeepers in save percentage for the second straight season (5.07) while ranking fourth best in both saves (157) and steals (29).  

Conference runner-up UC San Diego saw two Tritons take home first-team honors, with Landon Akerstrom and Lucas Romaguera receiving recognition. Akerstrom amassed 59 goals for UCSD, ranking second overall in the conference in 2024 alongside 76 points. Romaguera registered 44 tallies and 16 assists (60 points), placing second on the Tritons in both goals and points. 

Luka Kristc of UC Irvine secures a spot on the first team for the second straight season. The Belgrade, Serbia native secured Big West Player of the Week honors a record-high three times this season. Krstic capped off 2024 with 52 tallies, 25 assists, 77 points, and five drawn exclusions. UCI earned the No. 1 seed after going a perfect 5-0 in regular season conference play and locked up The Big West Men's Water polo regular season title once again.  

The second team consists of UC Davis graduate utility Aleix Aznar Beltran, UC Santa Barbara freshman center Dom Brown, UC San Diego utility Eamon Hennessey, UC Santa Barbara redshirt-junior goalkeeper Levin Lentin, UC Irvine senior attacker Ethan Shipman, UC Irvine sophomore attacker Johann Thrall, and UC Santa Barbara redshirt-junior attacker Brock Zamanian.  

Aznar Beltran amassed an Aggie high in assists (30) and points (69) and is the lone UCD member across the two All-Big West teams. The 30 assists finished at No. 9 overall in the conference. This is the second time Aznar Beltran has boasted postseason honors after being selected as a first-teamer a year ago. 

UC Santa Barbara sees three stars shine on the second team list. Brown boasts a UCSB best in shot percentage (.605) across 46 scores. Lentin lands back-to-back second- honors after finishing third in the league with 31 steals, four shy of The Big West best. The La Jolla native logged 196 saves this season, the most amongst any goalkeeper in the conference. Another Guacho sits atop the Big West leaderboard as Zamanian capped off the 2024 campaign with the most points in the league at 92 (52 goals, 40 assists). 

A pair of Anteaters earned recognition on the second team to round out the list, with Shipman (21 goals, 33 assists, and 54 points) and Thrall (51 goals, 21 assists, and 71 points). 

UC San Diego senior utility Bennett Axline, UC San Diego senior goalkeeper Logan Estes, UC San Diego senior attacker Felipe Ferreira, UC Irvine freshman attacker Cole Francisco, UC Davis redshirt freshman attacker Tommy Kiesling, UC Davis graduate utility Holden Neach, Cal State Fullerton senior utility Julian Nichols, UC Davis redshirt senior Will Nomura, Cal State Fullerton senior attacker Togan Ozbek, UC Irvine senior center Tyler Padua, Long Beach State freshman center Corbin Stanley, and UC Irvine senior utility Jack Stevens were named as honorable mentions.  

Joining Acosta, Brown, Francisco, Keisling, and Stanley on the All-Freshman team are Kostantinos Kapragkos of Long Beach State, and Ethan Spoon of UC Irvine to round out the list of honorees on the 2024 All-Big West Men's Water Polo Team.

 

2024 All-Big West First Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Position	Institution	Hometown
Gabi Acosta	Fr.	Center	Long Beach State	Barcelona, Spain
Landon Akerstrom	So.	Attacker	UC San Diego	Costa Mesa, Calif.
Evan Cain	Sr.	Attacker	Long Beach State	Riverside, Cailf.
Bruno Chiappini	Sr.	Utility	Long Beach State	Sao Paulo, Brazil
Caleb Francisco	R-So.	Attacker	Long Beach State	Long Beach, Calif.
Luka Krstic	Jr.	Attacker	UC Irvine	Belgrade, Serbia
Lucas Romaguera	Sr.	Attacker	UC San Diego	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Aaron Wilson	Sr.	Goalkeeper	Long Beach State	Glendora, Calif.
2024 All-Big West Second Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Position	Institution	Hometown
Aleix Aznar Beltran	Gr.	Utility	UC Davis	Barcelona, Spain
Dom Brown	R-Fr.	Center	UC Santa Barbara	Concord, Calif.
Eamon Hennessey	Sr.	Utility	UC San Diego	Newport Beach, Calif.
Levi Lentin	R-Jr.	Goalkeeper	UC Santa Barbara	La Jolla, Calif.
Ethan Shipman	Sr.	Attacker	UC Irvine	Fullerton, Calif.
Joahann Thrall	So.	Attacker	UC Irvine	Lake Forest, Calif.
Brock Zamanian	R-Jr.	Attacker	UC Santa Barbara	Orinda, Calif.
Honorable Mention: Bennett Axline (UC San Diego, Sr., UTL) Logan Estes (UC San Diego, Sr., GK), Felipe Ferreira (UC San Diego, Sr. ATK), Cole Francisco (UC Irvine, Fr., ATK), Tommy Kiesling (UC Davis, R-Fr., ATK), Holden Neach (UC Davis, UTL, Gr.), Julian Nichols (Cal State Fullerton, Sr., UTL), Will Nomura (UC Davis, R-Sr., UTL), Togan Ozbek (Cal State Fullerton, Sr. ATK), Tyler Padua (UC Irvine, Sr., CEN), Corbin Stanley (Long Beach State, Fr., CEN), Jack Stevens (UC Irvine, Sr., UTL)
Student-Athlete Year Position Institution Hometown Gabi Acosta Fr. Center Long Beach State Barcelona, Spain Dom Brown Fr. Center UC Santa Barbara Concord, Calif. Cole Francisco Fr. Attacker UC Irvine Long Beach, Calif. Kostantinos Kapragkos Fr. Attacker Long Beach State Thessaloniki, Greece Tommy Kiesling Fr. Attacker UC Davis Burlingame, Calif. Ethan Spoon Fr. Utility UC Irvine Fountain Valley, Calif. Corbin Stanley Fr. Center Long Beach State Yorba Lina, Calif.