EDISON, N.J. - Marist sophomore goalkeeper Rebecca Thomas (Cape Town, South Africa) and freshman Jessica Hamby (Sacramento, Calif.) were named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) water polo Defensive Player and Rookie of the Week, as announced by the league on Tuesday. The awards recognizes their efforts this past weekend when Marist went 3-0 in league play, outscoring their opponents 42-11 in the three games.
Thomas was again lights out in the Marist goal this past weekend, making 40 saves in three games and registering an astounding 3.67 goals against average and .784 save percentage. She had a season-high 17 saves against St. Francis (N.Y.) including a couple of big stops on five-meter attempts. She also added a steal. Later in the same day, she nearly equaled that performance with 15 saves against Villanova. She also contributed on the offensive end, doubling her season total with three assists. Thomas wrapped up her weekend with an eight-save performance against Siena, only allowing two shots past her.
Hamby continues a great freshman campaign for the Red Foxes, again being one of the team's greatest offensive threats. In Marist's three wins over the weekend she scored eight goals, two of which were game-winners, and added an assist for nine total points. She also made a team-high 12 steals on defense and drew eight ejections to lead to several offensive opportunities for the Red Foxes. She had a goal and an assist against St. Francis to go along with three steals and three drawn ejections. Versus Villanova, Hamby scored a team-high four goals and again had three steals and drew five ejections. She saved her best for last against Siena when, while only playing two quarters of the game, she led both the offense and defense, scoring another hat trick and making a Marist season-high six thefts.
The is the second weekly award of Hamby's short career, as she took home the same honor last week, and it is the fourth time this season that Thomas has been named the Defensive Player of the Week. Overall, it is the eighth and ninth weekly award for seventh time this season that a Red Fox has won a weekly award. Hamby's and twin sister Alison Hamby (Sacramento, Calif.) has twice earned Rookie of the Week honors, and senior Kelly Kline (Reading, Pa.) also earned Defensive Player of the Week honors on Feb. 21.
The Red Foxes (13-17, 5-1 MAAC) will play twice on Saturday, April 7 against Iona and VMI. The games will be played at Siena.
