LEBANON, Ill. - After a historic regular season and conference tournament, with still a chance to capture the National Collegiate Water Polo Championships, the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) has announced Head Coach Alex Figueras as the unanimous WWPA Coach of the Year for the 2025 season.
This is the first time ever that McKendree has won a WWPA coaching honor in all eight years as part of the conference.
Figueras gave his statement on the outstanding award:
"This award is a reflection of the abilities of the people who make this team great. All of our success came from a team effort from the players and coaches, and this award would not have been possible without them. Most of all, I want to credit [our late former Head Coach] Colleen Lischwe for her mentorship that helped set us up to succeed this year."
Figueras led the Bearcats to their third-straight one seed in the East region of the association after taking over abruptly interim duties on January 24th. In the WWPA Championships tournament, he knocked out both the top seeds in the West region in Fresno Pacific University in the semifinals (16-10) and Biola University in the title game (7-5) to claim the program's first-ever WWPA Championship crown and their first berth to the NC Water Polo Championships coming May 7th.
The former assistant coach for the past one and a half years for both the men's and women's squads was elevated as full-on Head Women's Water Polo Coach on April 22nd. He oversaw the countless honors this year's team has collected, including the program's first-ever WWPA major award winners in senior goalkeeper Sydney Kane (Kankakee, Ill.), who won WWPA Player of the Year, and sophomore center Bella Morquecho (Chicago, Ill.), who snagged WWPA Newcomer of the year.
In addition to the pair of astonishing recognitions, Figueras guided nine All-WWPA honors for six Bearcats, consisting of three on the First Team, one honorable mention, two All-Defensive, and one All-Freshman this season. A total of six WWPA Player of the Week selections were presented throughout the season, with Kane earning three defensives, junior attacker Joey Rebelo (Montreal, Québec) taking two offensives, and Morquecho snagging one offensive.
He also managed four of his players to be recognized on the WWPA All-Tournament team, including Kane receiving the Most Valuable Player.
Figueras can add this honor to his two other distinctions as one of the younger head coaches in the NCAA, as he won the 2024 Doc Hunkler Scholastic Women's Coach – Midwest Zone, and earned a gold medal with the Boys 18U USA Water Polo Junior Olympics in 2023.
UP NEXT
McKendree will face off against 19th-ranked Wagner College in the Opening Round of the National Collegiate Water Polo Championships, held at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Date is set for Wednesday, May 7th, with a start time of 5:00 PM CT.
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