Malaika Koshy had a pretty good junior season with her Sacred Heart Prep water polo teammates in 2014. The season began with the Gators winning their first St. Francis Invitational in eight years and ended with the SHP girls claiming their eighth straight Central Coast Section Division II championship.
Koshy played a big role in a successful 23-6 season, including scoring a pair of goals in a 15-4 drubbing of Soquel in the section title match. For her efforts during the year, Koshy was named to the First Team on the 2014-15 National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association/Speedo All-American squad.
Koshy was one of four juniors named to the elite 14-player squad, which included incoming Stanford freshmen Makenzie Fischer and Katherine Klass. Koshy was the only player from the CCS and one of only three from Northern California to be so honored.
Gunn’s Samantha Acker, who graduated in June, also received All-American recognition as she was named to the Second Team. She helped the Titans reach the CCS Division I title match (a loss to St. Francis) and finish 22-7.
Acker and Anna Edgington of St. Francis were the only two CCS players to make the second unit.
Making the Fourth Team was Sacred Heart Prep sophomore Maddy Johnston while Gunn senior Bianca Batista was named to the Fifth Team.
On the boys’ NISCA All-American team, senior rivals Nick Bisconti of Menlo School and Nelson Perla-Ward of Sacred Heart Prep both were named to the Second Team. Perla-Ward helped the Gators finish 25-4 and win a fourth straight CCS Division II title with a 10-6 win over Bisconti’s squad in the finals.
St. Francis goalie Benoit Viollier, who played for the Stanford Water Polo Club this summer, was a third player from the CCS to be named to the Second Team.
Making the Fifth Team was Sacred Heart Prep senior Michael Swart and Menlo junior Chris Xi. Menlo senior goalie Spencer Witte was named to the Sixth Team.
By Keith Peters/Palo Alto Online Sports
By Keith Peters/Palo Alto Online Sports
By Keith Peters/Palo Alto Online Sports