San Francisco, Calif. – After one of the best seasons in Pacific Men's Water Polo history, Balazs Erdelyi has been named the school's first-ever winner of the Cutino Award, announced by The Olympic Club of San Francisco Saturday.
The honor is bestowed annually to the nation's most outstanding collegiate water polo player as voted by the coaches of NCAA Division I institutions.
"I would like to say thank you to those who supported me the last three years and helped me win this award," Erdelyi said. "All of my teammates, the coaching staff, the athletic trainers and the alumns who came to see the ceremony last night. It is an amazing feeling being a part of this, and even though it is an individual award, I know I would not have been able to receive this prestigious award without them."
Erdelyi, a rising senior from Eger, Hungary, led the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with 83 goals and his 3.46 goals-per-game average also topped the conference. He finished the 2012 campaign with 21 multi-goal games, including five four-goal outings, four five-goal showings and a pair of six-goal performances. He went for a career-best nine goals in the Tigers' rout of Santa Clara on Oct. 21, the most in a single game at Pacific since at least 1997.
Erdelyi became the first player in Pacific history to claim the MPSF Player of the Year award at the conclusion of this past season, and he also earned his second consecutive ACWPC First Team All-America honor.
"I couldn't be happier for Balazs," head coach James Graham said. "He is truly deserving of this tremendous honor, and the season he had is one of the best performances not only in school history but in recent memory. He embraced a leadership role for us and became an unstoppable force on both ends of the pool."
The award takes its namesake from the late Peter J. Cutino, former coach of California who passed away in September 2004. Cutino led the Golden Bears to eight NCAA Championships and was inducted into the U.S. Water Polo Hall of Fame in 1985.
Erdelyi was just the second player in Pacific history to be named a finalist for the Cutino Award. Goran Tomasevic was nominated for the award following the 2010 season.
"This is a huge moment for Pacific Water Polo," said Mike Haley, a former letter winner, All-American and Pacific Athletics Hall of Fame member. "My phone has been blowing up with texts from alumni that are overjoyed for the program and so proud of Balazs. We are all so excited with what Coach Graham has done with the program and everyone is looking forward to next fall as the Tigers are going to be a force."
The two will team up next year as part of a talented Pacific squad that returns All-MPSF selections in Alex Obert, Alex Malkis and Aleksandar Petrovic. The Tigers finished sixth at the MPSF Tournament back in November after being picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches' poll.
