UC Irvine Earns Seven All-Big West Honors - UCI Athletics
IRVINE, Calif. – Seven UC Irvine men's water polo players earned All-Big West honors, the conference office announced Friday.The Anteaters defended their Big West regular season title in 2024 with a perfect 5-0 record against league opponents.
Luka Krstic earned an All-Big West First Team distinction for the second consecutive season.
Krstic was awarded a spot on the All-Big West First Team as a dominate season on the attack for UCI. The junior once again led the team in points leads the team with 80 total points behind 52 goals and 28 assists. His point and goal total both rank fourth in the Big West. Krstic also recorded 13 field blocks, a Big West best, and the Anteater's second-best mark in steals with 22. The attacker received three player of the week honors of the season, the most of any Big West player, for his efforts in the pool including career best performances in the upset of then No. 4 Pacific and rivalry win over then No. 8/6 Long Beach State.
Sophomore Johann Thrall grabbed his second All-Big West Second Time honor and is joined by senior Ethan Shipman.
Thrall, in his second year with the program, received his second Big West postseason honor. The sophomore leads the team in goals scored with 54 and is second on the team in points with 71. The attacker also dished out 21 assists, stole the ball 16 times, and earned 10 sprint wins (10-5) in his sophomore campaign. In Thrall's 15 multi-goal games he notched ten hat-tricks and scored his most goals in a game (six) against Cal State Fullerton to help the Anteaters clinch their second consecutive Big West regular season title.
Shipman earns his second postseason honor in his third year as an Anteater with his last accolades happening in the 2022 season where he was the GCC Newcomer of the Year and All-GCC Second Team member. The attacker led the Anteater squad with 36 assists which ranks sixth in the league. Shipman was instrumental in a couple of key conference wins including his eight-point effort (two goals and six assists) in the 12-11 win over UC San Diego and then recording a hat-trick that included the game winner and three assists in the 14-13 sudden victory overtime game versus UC Santa Barbara.
The All-Big West Honorable Mention team is comprised of Cole Francisco, Tyler Padua, and Jack Stevens.
Francisco made an immediate impact for UC Irvine in his freshman season. The attacker finished third on the team in goals (29) and fourth in both assists (23) and points (52). Francisco's 28 steals top all Anteaters and is sixth in the Big West. The freshman was a crucial piece of both offense and defense as he contributed four goals, one assist, two steals, five drawn exclusions, and committed zero exclusions in two close losses to then No. 1 UCLA (L, 12-9) and then No. 3 USC (L, 15-11) en route to his first weekly league conference honor.
Padua, a four-year player for the Anteaters, has received a postseason accolade in each one of those seasons. The center drew 67 exclusions this season, an Anteater best, and became the first UC Irvine player to draw eight kickouts in a contest since the 2015 season. Out of all key players, Padua converts at a high 57.8 percent (26-45) at the cage and has stolen the ball 18 times.
Stevens earns his second consecutive honorable mention nod. The center totaled 42 points on the season with 30 goals and 12 assists as well as recording 17 steals. Stevens was speedy at the sprint winning 23 of his 30 match-ups (23-7, 0.767). The senior's experience was valuable with two multi-goal performances in conferences games including his perfect 4-4 shooting in the regular season title clinching game versus Cal State Fullerton.
Lastly, Ethan Spoon joins Francisco on the All-Big West Freshman Team.
In his first year in the pool for the Anteaters, Spoon totaled 28 points on 26 goals and two assists. The freshman tallied the second-best mark on the team in drawn exclusions with 48 while tallying nine steals and four field blocks. Spoon had seven multi-goal performances on the year with three of those being hat-tricks.
