Dec. 12, 2007

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's water polo team recently had its season-ending banquet and ninth-year head coach John Zeigler announced the squad's award winners. Senior co-captain Jason Rechel (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) earned the prestigious Scott Schulte Award for being the "individual who contributes the most to Bucknell water polo."

Six other Bison, including four more members of the talented senior class, took home awards with Mark Masterson (Kihei, Hawaii/Marin) and co-captain Kyle Roslyn (Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter) sharing the Offensive Most Valuable Player honor and Josh Sunday (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) earning the Defensive Most Valuable Player citation for the second consecutive season. Peter O'Keefe (Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter) rounded out the list of seniors honored as he picked up the Most Improved Award. Sophomore Nick Donahue (Brooklyn, N.Y./Lawrenceville) won the Coaches Award, while Richie Hyden (Riverside, Conn./Greenwich) was named Rookie of the Year.

In addition to the six awards that were handed out, Zeigler named Gabriel Heiber (Aventura, Fla./Miami Beach), the 2005 team Rookie of the Year, and Alex Lampley (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin), the 2006 Most Improved Player, as captains for the 2008 season.

Rechel followed in the footsteps of Masterson, who was the 2006 Scott Schulte Award winner, by earning the team's top honor. The Columbus, Ohio, native posted team highs in goals (70) and points (102), becoming the first Bison to reach those milestones since 2000. Rechel also added 32 assists to stand second on the team and finished his career with 169 goals, 96 assists and 265 points. He came up just 15 goals, 29 assists and 47 points shy of joining Bucknell's career top-10 lists in those categories. No player has joined any of those lists since Kevin Permisohn, who was a senior on the 2000 Bison team.

Rechel, who was a first-team all-conference choice this past fall, was also Bucknell's top sprinter for the third straight year. He won 52 of 106 sprints this year, and finished with 169 sprints won in his career. Additionally, Rechel was strong on the defensive end with 34 steals, which ranked tied for fourth on the squad. He wrapped up his four-year career with 116 to rank eighth in Bison history.

The Schulte Award was Rechel's third team honor of his career. He was also named Rookie of the Year in 2004 and earned the Offensive MVP last fall.

Mark Masterson

Masterson, who was the Offensive MVP in 2005 and the Schulte Award winner in 2006, shared the Offensive MVP honor with Roslyn. The Kihei, Hawaii, native totaled 51 goals and 18 assists in his third year at Bucknell. The 51 goals ranked second on the team to Rechel, while his 69 points placed him fourth. A tremendous offensive player, Masterson posted 16 multiple-goal games, including three with at least four scores. He finished his career with 161 goals, 71 assists and 232 points.

A second-team all-conference choice for the second straight year, Masterson led the team with 42 steals to put his career figure at 127, the seventh-best in program history.

Roslyn, the recipient of the 2006 Coaches Award, shared Offensive MVP plaudits with Masterson. He totaled career highs in goals (39), assists (34) and points (73). In fact, his 34 assists led the team, while his point total was second to Rechel.

Kyle Roslyn

Like Rechel and Masterson, Roslyn complemented his offensive game with strong play on the defensive side of the pool. He racked up a career-high 41 steals to wrap up his career with 129, the sixth-best in program history. Additionally, Roslyn drew 31 ejections, the third-best number on the squad.

For the second straight year Sunday picked up the Defensive MVP award. In addition to his usual strong defensive play, which featured a career-high 38 steals, Sunday broke out on the offensive end in 2007. He piled up a career-high 33 goals, 10 more than his previous high, to finish fifth on the team.

Josh Sunday

One of just three Bison to start at least 32 of the team's 33 games, the physical Sunday, who also earned the Coaches Award as a freshman in 2004, drew 22 ejections and was ejected 23 times.

The final senior honored was O'Keefe, who earned the Most Improved Award. The Philadelphia, Pa., native had appeared in just 13 career games entering 2007. The veteran responded with the best season of his career. He saw action in all 33 games and drew five starts and tallied eight goals and nine assists. Six of his goals and nine of his assists came over the final three weekends of the campaign. O'Keefe also piled up 15 steals and drew 10 ejections.

Donahue, a sophomore goalkeeper, grabbed the Coaches Award. After seeing limited action as a freshman, he drew three starts and appeared in nine games. In 152 minutes of action, Donahue made 35 saves and yielded just 29 goals for a team-best .547 save percentage. Against Fordham, at the Princeton Invitational, he registered a career-high nine saves.

Hyden, the 2007 Southern Division Rookie of the Year, had one of the best Bison freshman campaigns in recent memory with 40 goals, 31 assists and 71 points, the most by a Bucknell freshman since Brad Roslyn posted the same scoring line in 2002.

Hyden tallied at least one goal in 23 of his 29 games. Highlighting his late-season performance was a season-high five-goal outing against Mercyhurst at the Southern Championships. Overall, Hyden posted 12 multiple-goal games, including five in the first eight outings of his career.

Also strong on the defensive end, Hyden produced 33 steals. He also won 8 of 21 sprints.

Heiber and Lampley, the lone members of this year's junior class, will serve as team captains next year. The pair split time in the starting lineup this past year with each player earning 15 starting assignments. Heiber registered 14 goals and five assists, while Lampley recorded career highs with 30 goals and eight assists. They also ranked one-two on the team in ejections drawn with 38 (Heiber) and 36 (Lampley).

Bucknell posted a 20-13 record in 2007, its first 20-win campaign since 2001, and just the eighth in program history. The Bison finished the year ranked 19th nationally and took fifth at the Eastern Championship.

2007 Bucknell Men's Water Polo Award Winners
Scott Schulte Award: Jason Rechel
Offensive MVP: Mark Masterson, Kyle Roslyn
Defensive MVP: Josh Sunday
Coaches Award: Nick Donahue
Most Improved: Peter O'Keefe
Rookie of the Year: Richie Hyden

2008 Captains: Gabriel Heiber, Alex Lampley

Nick Donahue

Peter O'Keefe

Richie Hyden