BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) announced Thursday their selections to the 2016 Women’s Division I All-America Team. Two Indiana water polo players, Kelly Matthews and Candyce Schroeder, earned selections to the ACWPC’s honorable mention All-America team.
For both Schroeder and Matthews, this is their second consecutive appearance on the ACWPC’s All-America honorable mention roster. They are the fourth and fifth players in Indiana history to secure the honor in back-to-back seasons, joining Krista Peterson (2003, 2004), Jakie Köhli (2010, 2011), and Cassie Wyckoff (2011, 2012). This season, Matthews and Schroeder are two of the twelve selections from the CWPA.
Matthews answered the bell in 2016 after a stellar freshman season in 2015. The Roxboro, Quebec native matched her freshman tally with 73 goals, along with 52 assists, a team-high 58 steals, and a team-leading 24 field blocks. In 21 of Indiana’s 30 games this season, Matthews scored at least two goals, with hat tricks in 12 of those contests. Season highlights include her career-best six assists in the Hoosiers’ overtime thriller at UC San Diego; netting 18 goals in four games at the Bruno Classic; and playing a part in five scores (two goals, three assists) in an overtime CWPA Semifinal win over Hartwick.
Matthews adds this award to an impressive haul of accolades in 2016, including places on the All-CWPA first team and the All-CWPA Tournament first team and an Academic All-Big Ten selection.
In a season where her senior leadership was paramount to Indiana’s success, Schroeder dominated her opponents in the pool. The center accumulated 64 goals, 18 assists, and 43 drawn exclusions in her final season with the Hoosiers. She recorded multiple goals in 21 of the Hoosiers’ 30 games, and played a crucial role in Indiana’s ability to convert 45% of their power play chances during their CWPA schedule. Schroeder etched into the record books with a seven-goal performance against Bucknell, the highest single-game goal total in IU history, on the final weekend of the regular season. Other notable performances include her five-goal game at UC San Diego and a four-goal, three-assist performance at home against CSU East Bay.
Like Matthews, Schroeder will add this award to her first team All-CWPA selection, a first team All-CWPA Championship honor, and an Academic All-Big Ten selection in 2016. Schroeder concludes her career as one of the most prolific goal scorers in Indiana history (seventh – 172).
The pair’s performance on both ends of the pool lifted the Hoosiers to one of their best winning percentages in program history, and their third-consecutive appearance in the CWPA Championship game. Matthews and Schroeder found much of their success through each other over the last two seasons. Their simultaneous All-American honors are a fitting end to their two-year partnership in the pool.
Swimming news courtesy of Indiana Water Polo.