2023 Men's Water Polo All-SCIAC Teams
REDLANDS, Calif. – The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) released their 2023 All-SCIAC teams this past week and highlighting the awards was Andrew Higginson (San Diego, CA) and Roberto Barrera (Guanajuato, Mexico) who were selected the Offensive and Defensive Athletes of the Year.
Higginson and Barrera, who also were named 1st Team All-SCIAC become the first SCIAC Athletes of the Year since Ryan Floersch in 2009. Higginson is the first Offensive Athlete of the Year for the Bulldogs since SCIAC changed to the offensive and defensive selections in 2021. Barrera is the first Defensive Athlete of the Year in program history. He is also the first goalkeeper to earn All-Conference honors since Chris Sekula back in 2016.
During SCIAC play Higginson scored 32 goals, the fourth most, and the most among players that made the SCIAC Tournament. He added five assists for the sixth most points with 37. He also drew seven exclusions, third on the Bulldogs, had 12 steals, and four field blocks.
Barrera's selections are very impressive considering he missed four of the 12 conference games due to his participation in the Pan-American Games for the Mexican National Team in October. He made 81 saves in eight games, which are the fourth most and gave him 10.1 saves per game, second most and 2.2 more than the next highest goalkeeper on a team in the SCIAC Tournament. His .596 save percentage is the second highest and his 6.79 goals against average (GAA) is the third lowest. He also added four assists and 12 steals.
