NORTON, Mass. — Wheaton College (Mass.) men's water polo player Spyros Rapsomanikis (Kerkyra, Greece) was named to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Men's Water Polo Delfina All-MPSF East First Team, while Jack Ruggiero (Hamden, Conn.) was selected to the Second Team, it was announced by the league.
Rapsomanikis was among the best rookies in the MPSF leading all players, regardless of division, with 68 steals, which was 26 more than the next highest player on the MPSF leaderboard. The utility player led all newcomers with 64 points and ranked ninth overall and fourth among Division III players. The Greek native placed second among rookies with 43 goals and ninth for all players, while ranking fourth within the DIII circuit. Rapsomanikis did his part to gain advantage for the Lyons as well, drawing 44 exclusions for the highest total among first years and Division III players as well as a spot in fourth place among all MPSF leaders. Rapsomanikis was an extremely consistent scorer for Wheaton, netting at least one goal in all but one contest, while scoring multiple goals in 11 of 16 games. The European tallied a school-record six goals and added a pair of assists to establish the school standard for points as well with eight on October 23 vs. Connecticut College. Rapsomanikis was equally as prolific when it came to defending for the Lyons, coming up with multiple steals in all but two outings, including a school-record count of 10 vs. Pennsylvania State University Behrend on November 9. He gained recognition throughout the league on September 23 when he was tabbed the MPSF Newcomer of the Week.
Ruggiero earns Honorable Mention recognition from the utility spot as well for Wheaton. The first year saw action in all 16 matches, while ranking second in the league with 42 steals. The rookie racked up 38 points to rank second on the team for the Lyons, including 17 assists for the second-highest total for Wheaton. A Biochemistry major, Ruggiero scored 21 times to stand third on the team. The Hamden High School product tallied a personal-high six points on four goals and a pair of assists to open the season vs. Austin College on September 8 in Norton. He posted multiple points in all but three games during the season. Ruggiero notched at least one steal in all but one game, including two or more in 12 games. He closed out the season with multiple thefts in eight straight games, while racking up multi-point scoring efforts in eight of the final nine regular season contests.
The Lyons finished their inaugural season of games with an 0-16 mark and will compete in the MPSF Championship Tournament on Saturday, November 23 at host University of California Los Angeles' Spieker Aquatics Center. Wheaton earned the number nine seed and will take on eighth-seeded Washington & Jefferson College at 11:30 a.m. EST in Los Angeles, Calif.
