Asic Named All-American, Rhodes, Urban Honorable Mention
12/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
ACWPC DIVISION I ALL-AMERICA TEAM
MALIBU, Calif. - The Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) announced the 2016 Men's NCAA Division I All-America teams and Pepperdine's Marko Asic garnered second-team honors. The Waves' Zack Rhodes and Mark Urban also earned honorable mention on the All-American list.
Asic is the Waves' first All-American since Luke Hewko in 2014 and the first Wave to make the second team since JP MacDonell in 2009. It is the first time since 2012 that Pepperdine has had multiple honorees.
Asic (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) is coming off a sophomore season in which he has already led the Waves to a Golden Coast Conference Tournament Championship and been named the GCC Player of the Year. Asic scored a team-high 69 goals on the year and notched 82 assists. He has led the team in scoring in both of his collegiate seasons, posting 45 goals as a freshman last year. Asic's second-team honor is the 55th All-American selection in Pepperdine program history. Asic was a 2015 All-American honorable mention.
Rhodes (Palm Desert, Calif./Palm Desert HS) led the Waves in goal all season, notching 279 saves and an 8.97 goals against average. The junior goalkeeper was at his best at the end of the season for Pepperdine, earning GCC Tournament MVP honors with 47 saves in three wins to lead the Waves to the title. Rhodes was second in the GCC in saves and third with a .564 save percentage.
Urban (Budapest, Hungary//Diablo Valley College) was also at his best in the GCC Championship, posting a tournament-high seven assists to go along with six goals in three games. For the season Urban did it all for the Waves, leading the squad with 33 assists and finishing second with 40 goals. Urban was second on the team in scoring last year as well with 41 goals. His 33 assists were the third most in the GCC this year and his 40 goals were tied for seventh. Urban also earned All-GCC first team honors.
Pepperdine finished the season 15-12, sweeping through the conference tournament to win the inaugural GCC Tournament Championship as the fourth seed. Pepperdine returns nearly all of its starting lineup next year.
