MWPA Announces Week 4 Players of the Week

The Michigan Water Polo Association (MWPA) has named eight District players of the week for week two.

On the girls side, Grandville's Leah Green, Forest Hills' Caroline Bell, Grand Blanc's Lydia Ferguson, and Chelsea's Bella Turner earned honors, while on the boys side, Zeeland's Nate Brinks, Rockford's Logan Stevens, Birmingham Groves' Erik Paluda, and Dexter's Tristan Lorincz earned the honors.

Below is a breakdown of the week that was for each of them.

District 1, Girls | Leah Green - #5 Ranked Grandville Bulldogs

The reigning All-American has started to find her groove as she knocked aside a shade over 10 shots a game last week for the Bulldogs. The aggressive keeper also pulled out 10 steals and blocked a five meter for Aubrie Scott and Chloe Graverson's Bulldogs. A former Volleyball player, Green's extension and aggression attacking the ball (and in many cases, the ball carrier) is problematic for those on the fast break. Green helped the Dawgs to a top ten win against East Grand Rapids last week, and all four goals she allowed came on transitions against where the opponent had numbers. Not too shabby.

District 1, Boys | Nate Brinks - Zeeland Polo

First of all, we can say 19 drawn exclusions in a week is borderline not fair. Brinks triple-double week of 19 of those bad boys, 17 goals and 11 steals show this dude has been Zeeland's focal point. Zac Geschwendt's Zee's played a stiff week and while they fell a few times, Brinks accounted for a big chunk of their offense, and helped lead the way in a win over the feisty East Kentwood Falcons. He's definitely got Zeeland on the Brink (HA!) of a successful postseason run if he can keep this up.

District 2, Girls | Caroline Bell - Forest Hills Polo

Very much under the radar at times, Forest Hills has created some headaches for a lot of groups of late and Caroline Bell is a big reason why. Bell's 14 goals, 12 steals and eight assists paced Forest Hills in a week with some very compelling results. They pushed Zeeland into overtime on the road, and Zeeland went on to play Rockford close on the road. They walked by West Ottawa in a strong effort, and then fought tough with a very strong ELODH front on Friday in a District Seed game. Sara Fredricks has a group that has the ability to cause some postseason heartburn, so breakout the Tums!

District 2, Boys | Logan Stevens - #4 ranked Rockford Rams

Another player of the week rocking triple-double credentials, Logan Stevens scored 14 times, notched 14 steals and drew 10 exclusions in a busy week for Craig Peterman's Rams. While Rockford took a tough loss to #1 Hudsonville, they rebounded and became the only MWPA team this year to travel to an Illinois tournament and return unbeaten - we'd say based on Logan's numbers, he had a pretty big hand in that result.

District 3, Girls | Lydia Ferguson - Grand Blanc Bobcats

About as unselfish a stat-line as you'll ever find, Ferguson is player of the week in the midst of a week her team scored SIXTY TWO TIMES in four games and she only scored eight of them. That's because she did all the things you need outside of goal-scoring. Ferguson had 14 steals, 12 helpers, had two field blocks and drew three exclusions in what was a strong week for Emily Overmyer's Bobcats.

District 3, Boys | Erik Paluda - #6 ranked Birmingham Groves Gators

In a two-game week, including a visit from #3 Ann Arbor Pioneer, Paluda put on a balanced and strong performance for Steven Curry and Bob Sala's Gators in route to a good 1-1 week. Paluda notched five goals, drew four exclusions, had seven steals and assists each with a blocked shot. Paluda is the third Gator to win Player of the Week honors, showing some pretty strong depth for a Gator squad ranked sixth in the state this season.

District 4, Girls | Bella Turner - (RV) Chelsea Bulldogs

A postseason star for the Bulldogs last year, Bella Turner absolutely turned it on last week with a 22-goal performance in just four games for the Bulldogs. Despite a pair of early week narrow setbacks, she helped them rebound for a strong win over Grand Blanc and another over Portage to put Jessica Hinderer's squad in the conversation of the top ten. The speedy Turner also won 13 of her 16 sprint attempts, notched 10 steals and had six assists as the pulse of the Bulldog offense last week. Also shoutout to the photographer on this photo - excellent framing!

District 4, Boys | Tristan Lorincz - #10 Dexter Dreadnaughts

Lorincz and the "Dubnaughts" (as they refer to themselves on social media. Kind of a power move, don't you think?) are back in the rankings after a very impressive week by Tristan. He tallied 18 times, had nine steals, seven drawn exclusions and a CRAZY seven field blocks to go with five helpers for Kait Verbal's Dreads this week. Lorincz helped Dexter past #9 Zeeland to get back into the #10 spot in the poll, and guided them to a pair of strong showings in one-goal set-backs to #7 Grand Haven and #6 Jenison this week.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi all! The Michigan Water Polo Association is working hard on our "Grow the Game" Campaign, and needs your help! Click this link to find out how you can help us give our athletes an ELITE Water Polo experience.