POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist water polo team opens postseason play at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship on Saturday and Sunday at McCann Natatorium.

The Red Foxes are the #2 seed in the tournament and will play the #3 Iona Gaels on Saturday (2 p.m.) in the semi-finals. The winner of that game will then play the winner of the #1 Wagner Seahawks vs the #4 Virginia Military Institute Keydets in the Championship game on Sunday (2 p.m.)

LAST TIME OUT:

Marist is coming off a two week break from competition, having wrapped up the regular season with 12-6 and 12-5 wins over Villanova and VMI respective on April 14, followed by a 12-9 loss to #18 Wagner on April 15.

RANKED IN THE COUNTRY:
The Red Foxes were ranked #T23 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Week 15 Poll which was released on Wednesday. The ranking marked the 19^th time Marist was included in a national poll this season, having previously been ranked #23 in the CWPA's Preseason and Week 1 Polls, #12 in the USA Water Polo National Collegiate Rankings, #24 in the CWPA Week 2 Poll, #21 in the USA Water Polo National Collegiate Rankings, #24 in the CWPA Week 3 Poll, #T24 in the CWPA Week 4 Poll, #25 in the CWPA Week 5 Poll, #23 in the USA Water Polo National Collegiate Rankings, #23 in the CWPA Week 8 Poll, #24 in the USA Water Polo National Collegiate Rankings on March 21st and #23 in the CWPA Week 9 Poll and #24 in the CWPA Week 10-14 Polls and #24 in the USA Water Polo National Collegiate Rankings on April. 

MAAC POSTSEASON AWARDS:
Senior co-captain Diana Carballo was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year as was voted by the conference's head coaches and was announced at the MAAC Water Polo Awards Show on Friday evening.

In addition to her Defensive Player of the Year award, Carballo was also named to the All-MAAC First Team.

Senior co-captain Jessica Hermosillo, junior co-captain Katherine Tijerina and sophomore Justine Castro were named to the All-MAAC Second Team.

As a team, the Red Foxes also had a league leading 13 student-athletes named to the MAAC All-Academic Team. To be eligible for the MAAC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must have completed two semesters at their institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a 4.0 scale. Marist's All-Academic nominations were Carballo, juniors Susan Cantoni, Grace Doerfler, Ariana Singer, Tijerina, Hope Vickers and Caoimhe Whitebloom, sophomores Megan Clarke, Carolyn Gauvin, Castro, Carsen Horvatich, Anais Mathes and Lexi Puhl.

PLAYING THE BEST:
 
Marist played 17 of their 35 games this season against nationally ranked opponents, including the first eight games of the year. The Red Foxes played five games against teams ranked in the Top 10 and 13 games against opponents ranked in the Top 20. From Jan 20th-27^th and they played three straight games against teams ranked in the Top 6 (#4 Cal, #6 Hawaii + #4 UCLA).
 
WEEKEND SCHEDULE:
 
Semi-Finals (Saturday)

• Game 1 -- #1 Wagner vs #4 VMI – Noon
• Game 2 -- #2 Marist vs #3 Iona

Finals (Sunday)

• Third Place Game -- Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2 – Noon
• Championship Game – Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2

SCOUTING THE GAELS:
 
Iona enters the weekend at 12-22 (9-5 MAAC).
 
In two meetings this season, Marist defeated the Gaels 7-5 on March 10 and 10-5 on April 7^th at McCann Natatorium.
 
SCOUTING WAGNER:
 
Wagner enters the tournament ranked #18 in the CWPA Week 15 Poll and stand at 22-6 (14-0 MAAC). The Seahawks claimed their third straight MAAC Regular Season Championship, going undefeated in conference play.
 
During the regular season, Wagner defeated the Red Foxes 13-6 on March 24 at Iona and 12-9 on April 15 at Villanova.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW:
 
All games this weekend will be streamed on ESPN3 and live stats will be available. Fans can also follow @MaristWP on Twitter for in game updates.