Papa is CIF Player of the Year

Accolades have been plentiful for Corona del Mar High senior Cassidy Papa after she helped the Corona del Mar High girls’ water polo team capture its first CIF Southern Section Division 1 title.

Papa, the Pacific Coast League MVP, also has earned Division 1 Player of the Year honors.

She is joined on the Division 1 first team by her senior teammates, Ioanna and Stephania Haralabidis, as well as Newport Harbor senior co-captains Carly Christian and Elissia Schilling.

CdM Coach Sam Bailey, who has since left the program to coach and teach at Beckman, was the Division 1 Coach of the Year.

The five players were keys as CdM and Newport Harbor made it an all-Back Bay Division 1 title for the second straight year. This time CdM won, 6-5.

Papa, a co-captain and attacker who is bound for Stanford, had 51 goals and led the Sea Kings (27-4) with 53 assists. She also had 31 steals.

The Haralabidis sisters, both bound for USC, also emerged as leaders after missing the first month of the season due to being ineligible. Stephania Haralabidis, a lefty attacker, led CdM with 60 goals. She added 23 assists and tied for the team lead with 50 steals. Ioanna Haralabidis, also an attacker, had 43 goals, 17 assists and 30 steals.

Christian, an attacker headed to UC Santa Barbara, scored a team-high 73 goals in helping Newport Harbor (24-7) return to the Division 1 title match for the second straight year. The Sunset League Player of the Year, Christian had 19 assists and a team-best 56 steals.

Schilling, a UCLA-bound center, had 47 goals, 20 assists and 45 steals for the Sailors.

Christian and Schilling are both repeat first-team All-CIF selections.

CdM senior lefty attacker Ally McCormick and senior defender Genevieve Weed, as well as Newport junior goalie Cleo Harrington and senior defender Avery Peterson, were second-team All-CIF selections. Peterson is headed to USC, while McCormick is going to BYU for swimming.

CdM senior goalkeeper Erica Weed and Newport Harbor sophomore attacker Rachel Whitelegge earned third-team All-CIF honors.

— From staff reports