May 24, 2016
Woodland, Calif.----- Following the San Jose State University women's water polo team earning a 2016 NCAA Public Recognition Award in April for a maximum 1,000 Academic Progress Rate (APR) score, nine Spartans were named to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Women's Water Polo All-Academic team.
For the third time in the last four years, San Jose State had nine student-athletes recognized with this conference academic award. Among the MPSF's seven women's water polo playing members, only Stanford with 12 had more award winners than the Spartans. UCLA matched San Jose State's total of nine.
"This is great news for our program, our student-athletes and our recruiting. It says we are doing things the right way," sayd San Jose State University women's water polo head coach Johnny Bega. "We have the right players coming into our program and they're doing a great job both in the classroom and in the pool."
To earn a spot on the conference's all-academic team, a nominee must have a 3.00 or higher cumulative grade-point average, be enrolled at the university for at least a year and have sophomore academic standing and participate in at least 50 percent of the team's contests.
Senior Rae Lekness (Calgary, Alberta), the MPSF's leading scorer in 2016 and the conference's career scoring leader with 294 goals, earned her third conference academic honor. She became the seventh Spartan in the last four years to be a three-time MPSF All-Academic Award winner. Her former teammates Rachel Henry, Dani Styles, Timi Molnar, Victoria Smith, Anna Natalizio and Kimber Methvin were three-time MPSF All-Academic award recipients.
Senior Brittany Krappe (Portola Valley, Calif./Menlo-Atherton High) and juniors Donia Momen (North Vancouver, B.C.) Cara Robinson (Calgary, Alberta) earned their second MPSF All-Academic team awards.
Sophomores Molly Kaster (San Diego, Calif./Helix High), Klaudia Paradi (Eger, Hungary), Tayler Peters (Union City, Calif./James Logan High), Giuliana Tragitt (Clovis, Calif./Clovis High) and McKenna Yates (San Jose, Calif./St. Francis High) are first time honorees.
Lekness, Momen, Robinson, Paradi, Peters and Yates were starters for San Jose State which finished with an 18-15 win-loss record and was ranked 11th in the final national coaches' poll.
2016 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Women's Water Polo All-Academic Team
(San Jose State University selections only)
| Name | Class | Position | GPA | Hometown |
| Molly Kaster | Sophomore | Utility | 3.212 | San Diego, Calif. |
| Brittany Krappe | Senior | Utility | 3.199 | Portola Valley, Calif. |
| Rae Lekness | Senior | Utility | 3.240 | Calgary, Alberta |
| Donia Momen | Junior | Utility | 3.286 | North Vancouver, B.C. |
| Klaudia Paradi | Sophomore | Utility | 3.195 | Eger, Hungary |
| Tayler Peters | Sophomore | Goalkeeper | 3.251 | Union City, Calif. |
| Cara Robinson | Junior | Driver | 3.489 | Calgary, Alberta |
| Giuliana Tragitt | Sophomore | Utility | 3.028 | Clovis, Calif. |
| McKenna Yates | Sophomore | Driver | 3.084 | San Jose, Calif. |