SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The No. 18 Santa Clara University men's water polo team swept the KAP7 West Coast Conference weekly awards for the week of Oct. 28-Nov. 3, the conference office announced Tuesday, with senior attacker Zach Fales being named Player of the Week and freshman utilityman Riccardo De Simon being named Newcomer of the Week.
 
Fales scored seven goals, grabbed five steals and tallied two assists in two WCC road games, including powering No. 18 Santa Clara to a 13-9 win over No. 17 LMU on Saturday. Fales scored six goals against the Lions on Saturday, his second-most in a game this season. He scored all four of the Broncos' goals in the first period to put them ahead 4-2 early. He also had a goal and two assists Friday at No. 9 Pepperdine. Fales drew four kickouts and recorded two field blocks on defense in the two games.
 
De Simon scored five goals and tallied three assists in the Broncos' two road games while helping Santa Clara in a big way to beat No. 17 LMU on Saturday. De Simon scored four goals against the Lions – all in the second period – to push the Broncos' lead to an insurmountable 10-4 at halftime, as SCU went on to beat the Lions, 13-9. He also had a goal and two assists on Friday at No. 9 Pepperdine. De Simon played well on both sides of the ball on the weekend with six steals, three drawn kickouts and three field blocks on defense.
 
The WCC Player of the Week award is the first of Fales' career. He was a first team all-WCC honoree and an Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches All-American Honorable Mention a year ago. Fales leads the Broncos with 53 goals, 37 assists and 90 points in 2024. He's also second on the team with 34 steals.
 
De Simon has now won three WCC Newcomer of the Week awards this season. He's second on the team with 41 goals and 62 points. He leads the Broncos with 51 steals and 21 blocks, and has won 39 of 43 (90.7%) sprints to give Santa Clara the ball at the start of periods.
 
De Simon, Fales and the Broncos conclude a four-game road trip with two games this week in Northern California. The Broncos face No. 6 Pacific in a WCC game on Friday, then take on No. 2 Stanford on Saturday. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.