SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Three members of the Santa Clara University men's water polo team earned all-West Coast Conference distinctions Wednesday, led by senior attacker Zach Fales being named to the all-WCC first team for the second year in a row, as announced by the conference office.
 
Freshman utilityman Riccardo De Simon and redshirt freshman center defender Luke Baird joined Fales as award winners, earning all-WCC honorable mention distinctions. The three recognitions equal what the Broncos hauled in last season during the WCC's first year sponsoring men's water polo.
 
Fales leads Santa Clara (13-10, 2-4 WCC) with 59 goals and 42 assists for a team-best 101 points heading into this weekend's WCC Championship Tournament. He's also second on the team with 40 steals and has recorded 10 field blocks. Fales has scored multiple goals in 13 different games, including a career-high eight on Sept. 21 versus George Washington.
 
The La Jolla, Calif., native had six goals on Nov. 2 at then-No. 17-ranked LMU to lead the Broncos to a 13-9 win, the team's first over the Lions in five years, and its first against them in Los Angeles in a decade. He was named WCC Player of the Week on Nov. 5 for his efforts on that Southern California road trip. Fales was also named to the
 
Riccardo De Simon has had an outstanding debut season in collegiate water polo. He was a three-time WCC Freshman of the Week during the regular season, doing a bit of everything for the Broncos. The rookie, who hails from Bologna, Italy, is second only to Fales on the team with 47 goals and 71 points. He leads Santa Clara with 57 steals and has been the team's leading sprinter to start periods, winning 44 of 49 tries. His 24 assists rank fourth on the team. De Simon has 14 multi-goal games and eight games with at least two assists.
 
Baird also earned himself a WCC Freshman of the Week nod on Oct. 15 after helping lead the Broncos to an unbeaten weekend at the Lancer Joust in Southern California. He ranks fourth with 30 goals for the Broncos in his first collegiate season after redshirting a year ago. He's third with 23 steals and 16 field blocks. He's posted eight multi-goal games, including a season-high four on Oct. 11 at Cal State Fullerton to open the Lancer Joust.
 
Fales, De Simon, Baird and the rest of the Broncos head to Stockton, Calif., on Friday to open the 2024 WCC Championship Tournament, hosted by Pacific. Their opening round game versus No. 4 seed California Baptist starts at 2 p.m. Friday. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.