MERCED, Calif. – Five University of California, Merced men's water polo student-athletes earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team honors.
Recent graduates Aydann Hambruch and Vincent Labonte won the award along with Matthew Lloyd, Andrew Jones, and Hayden Markell.
All five Bobcats earn the distinction for the first time.
The 2025-26 Academic All-District Team, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in competition and in the classroom.
Hambruch maintained a 3.92 GPA as a management and business economics major and was recently named UC Merced's Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. He scored nine goals in 2025 and ranked second on the team with 17 assists and fourth with 16 steals.
Labonte was the Bobcats second leading scorer in 2025 with 40 goals. He had eleven multi-goal games, including scoring five goals against WWPA opponent McKendree. He graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in management and business economics.
UC Merced's all-time saves leader, Lloyd tallied 181 saves in his junior season and eclipsed the 500 saves mark in his career. He was also tied for the team lead with 18 steals and earned WWPA Defensive Player of the Week honors on November 13. Lloyd is majoring in public health.
An All-WWPA Second Team selection, Jones led UC Merced with a career-high 48 goals this year and was a 2X WWPA Offensive Player of the Week. Jones was also credited with a team-high 26 assists and was third with 17 steals. He heads into his senior season ranked second in program history with 118 career goals. He is working towards a degree in psychology.
Markell has kept a 4.0 GPA through his first two years as mechanical engineering major. In the pool, he recorded 16 points in 2025 with 10 assists and six goals. He added 13 steals.
