Water Polo’s Libby Slater Named Player of the Year

Posted: Nov 28, 2018

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sophomore Libby Slater was named the St. Francis water polo player of the year after leading the team in scoring with 49 goals. She received her honor at the team's annual end-of-season banquet.

Junior Kendall Houck was named the team's Offensive Player of the Year after finishing second in goals (47) and first in assists (29), points (76) and steals (73) for the team. Sloat was the Defensive Player of the Year. Junior Allie Belafsky was the Most Inspirational and Emma Johnson received the Most Improved Player.

Karissa Peterson was named the Player of the Year for the junior varsity team, joining other winners including Baya McIntosh (Offensive Player of the Year), Emma Olver (Defensive Player of the Year), Asia Coleman (Most Inspirational) and Rory Peters (Most Improved Player).

2018 Water Polo Team Highlights

St. Francis was selected to play in the CIF Northern California Division II Championships, earning a berth in the NorCals for the second consecutive season.
St. Francis was the No. 3 seed in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I bracket, posting wins over No. 14 Pitman (13-2), No. 6 Oak Ridge (10-4) and No. 2 Woodcreek (9-6). The Troubadours lost to champion Davis 15-5 in the finals, reaching the final for the second consecutive season.
The Troubadours posted a 16-12 overall record. St. Francis was second in the Delta League with a 1-1 record. The team went 3-1 at the Grizzly Classic and posted the best finish under Coach Moody in the Capital Challenge, finishing sixth with a 2-2 record.
Junior Kendall Houck and sophomore Zoe Sloat and Libby Slater were named to the Sac-Joaquin Section first team. Slater led the team with 49 goals, while Houck was second in goals (47) and first is assists (29), points (76) and steals (73). Sloat was fourth in goals and second in steals (25). Senior Kate Watley, junior Caroline Wilkins and Malia Arnot earned second team honors.
St. Francis had five players named to the All-Delta League team, including Houck, Reagan Garcia, Kate Watley, Sloat and Slater. It was the second honor for Houck and first for Garcia, Watley, Sloat and Slater.
Seniors Abbey Berg (Sacramento), Reagan Garcia (Carmichael) and Emalee Lavezzo (Sacramento) joined juniors Alyssa Jacobsen (Sacramento) and Caroline Wilkins (Carmichael) were named to the USA Water Polo Academic All-America team. It was the second career honor for Garcia, Lavezzo and Berg.