California Baptist University
Santa Clara
Four Lancers Earn All-WWPA Honors, with Conference Tournament On the Horizon
11/17/2021 5:00:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
Zach Lowery took home top honors for CBU with a First Team nod, while PJ McDonough was a Second Team selection. Hunter Barnett received honorable mention and Gavin McKenzie was an All-Freshman Team pick.
The Lancers finished the regular season with an 18-13 overall and 6-2 WWPA record, which earned them the third seed for this weekend's conference tournament. It set a program record for conference wins in a season and the top-three seed is the best ever in CBU history for a full season, as well.
🏆 ALL-WWPA 🏆
— California Baptist Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) November 18, 2021
Congratulations to Zach Lowery on being named to the All-WWPA First Team in consecutive seasons. He led the WWPA in assists (62), ranked fourth in points (100) and fifth in field blocks (9) and steals (34) this year. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/91ndfUw6nm
Lowery has now made back-to-back First Teams in the WWPA and was a two-time conference Player of the Week selection this year. He continued his all-around play with a team-high 100 points on 62 assists and 38 goals. He also had 34 steals, won 28 sprints, drew 25 ejections and added nine field blocks. He led the WWPA in assists, ranked fourth in points and sprint wins and fifth in field blocks and steals.
Zach Lowery is leading CBU with a pair of goals in the first half 😤 #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/4iE9U9OXOK
— California Baptist Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) October 30, 2021
The senior attacker has taken over three CBU career records this season, with 209 assists, 63 multi-assist games and 57 games with a goal, assist and steal. He also ranks fifth in steals (155), fourth in multi-steal games (40), 14th with 159 career goals and 42 multi-goal games. He also tied the Lancers' single-game assists record with seven against Fresno Pacific on Oct. 8. His 62 assists this year are 16 off the program's single-season record set by Chris Morgan's 78 from 2008.
McDonough played his way to NCAA Division I All-America and All-WWPA First Team recognition a year ago and maintained his form this season. He led the Lancers and ranked fifth in goals in the WWPA with 62 while still scoring on 51.2 percent of his shots (62-121). He also had 25 steals, 15 assists and 11 drawn ejections.
🏆 ALL-WWPA 🏆
— California Baptist Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) November 18, 2021
PJ McDonough earns All-WWPA honors for the second year in a row. He led the Lancers and ranked fifth in the conference with 62 goals on a 51.2 shooting percentage (62-121) this year, and also had 25 steals and 15 assists. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/ezpUMomLFY
The center defender scored in 27 of 28 games this season, including the first 25 games of the year. It's the second-longest single-season streak in team history. He actually scored in 40-straight games overall, as he scored in all 12 games in the 2020-21 campaign and the final three games of 2019.
Take a look at PJ McDonough's fourth quarter hat 🎩 trick that secured CBU's one-goal win over Santa Clara. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/tppWZ0CEEH
— California Baptist Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) October 30, 2021
It's the second WWPA award of Barnett's career after he made the All-Freshman Team in 2018. He ranked second for CBU with 83 points on 58 goals and 25 assists, fifth in the conference in points and sixth in goals. The attacker also had 26 steals and 23 drawn ejections and had two six-goal games in WWPA play this year.
🏆 ALL-WWPA 🏆
— California Baptist Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) November 18, 2021
Hunter Barnett receives All-WWPA Honorable Mention. He ranked second for CBU with 83 points on 58 goals and 25 assists, fifth in the conference in points and sixth in goals. He also had 26 steals, 23 drawn ejections and two six-goal games this year. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/v2GKxNrstu
Hunter Barnett wasn't done, he's scored another 🎩 trick in the third quarter alone and has another six-goal game with eight minutes to play. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/q3zGhnI2hO
— California Baptist Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) November 5, 2021
McKenzie put together a promising true freshman campaign with 25 points on 19 goals and six assists. The two-meter also had 28 drawn ejections, eight steals and two hat tricks on the year.
🏆 WWPA ALL-FRESHMAN 🏆
— California Baptist Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) November 18, 2021
Gavin McKenzie earns WWPA All-Freshman Team honors after he logged 25 points on 19 goals and six assists. He also had 28 drawn ejections and eight steals on the season. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/HsXMkwzkGh
🎩🎩🎩
— California Baptist Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) October 2, 2021
Gavin McKenzie is working 🥵
The true freshman has scored the first hat trick of his career. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/N3fGsK81Xe
WWPA PREVIEW
After hosting the WWPA Championships the last two years, California Baptist will head out of town for the conference tournament with an automatic bid for the NCAA Championships on the line. UC Davis will host the event at the Schaal Aquatics Center Friday through Sunday.
The 17th-ranked Lancers will look to defend their 2020 WWPA Championship, which led to them becoming the first team in school history to compete in the NCAA Championships. This year's tournament will be a tougher challenge, as last season was shortened and only included three WWPA teams.
CBU's No. 3 seed puts them against sixth-seeded Santa Clara in the opening round Friday at 11 a.m. The winner will play the winner of UC San Diego and Concordia game in the WWPA Championship Semifinals. CBU defeated the Broncos 11-10 at the Lancer Aquatics Center on Oct. 30.
Anyone else 🔥 up for @TheWWPA Championships this week?#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/O49LvjzVIk
— California Baptist Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) November 17, 2021
CONFERENCE HISTORY
Over the past seven seasons, UC Davis and UC San Diego have had a firm grip on the WWPA tournament trophy, as each team has won three of those titles. In that span, the regular-season champion went on to win the tournament title and the WWPA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, in five of seven years.
Outside of 2020, the Aggies and Tritons have been the two final teams in the WWPA five years in a row and six times in the last seven seasons.
The Lancers have been very close, though, and advanced to the WWPA Tournament semifinals in four of the last five years that included a full field. CBU was only a goal or two away from the championship game three times, with an 11-9 loss to UC San Diego in 2017 and one-goal losses to UC Davis in 2016 (5-4) and 2015 (14-13).
FIRST ROUND INFORMATION
Opponent: #6 Santa Clara
Dates/Times: Friday, November 19 at 11 a.m.
Location: Davis, Calif. (Schaal Aquatics Center)
Video: YouTube
Live Stats: The FOSH
