Krstonosic headlines 2024 DII ACWPC All-Americans

Salem University continued to write history early in 2025 as Nikola Krstonosic and head coach Rob Bullion received NCAA Division II's top individual awards, it was announced Tuesday by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC).

Krstonosic, the WWPA's two-time Player of the Year, becomes the first-ever Salem player to earn ACWPC Division II Player of the Year in the program's 26-year history. The honor puts a cap on an incredible 2024 campaign by the southpaw, who will close his competitive career as a four-time First Team All-American.

The Becej, Serbia native led all of Division II in goals (109), assists (82) and points (191) while becoming the first Tiger to reach the 400-career goal mark. He guided Salem to its first WWPA title, earning WWPA Championship Outstanding Player in the process.

Ahead of the 2024 NCAA national championship, Krstonosic was honored with the NCAA's Elite 90 award, which recognizes the essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level while achieving the highest academic standard among their peers. Annually presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA at the finals site, Krstonosic won with a 4.0 GPA in Cyber Security.

It marks the second DII Coach of the Year award for Bullion (2022). In his 14th year he coached the Tigers to their first 20-win season (20-4), its second WWPA East Region title, and first WWPA championship. Salem won 14 consecutive matches heading into NCAAs and had a conference-high six All-WWPA honorees, including Krstonosic and WWPA Freshman of the Year Danko Kesic.

Joining his teammate on the First Team was Marko Zivojinovic, who finished a spot behind Krstonosic in nearly every offensive category in Division II. A three-time First Team All-American, Zivojinovic registered 102 goals, 70 assists and 172 points and was named WWPA Offensive Player of the Week twice.

Biola goalkeeper Mitchell Carpenter was named All-America for the fourth time and First Team for the second year in a row. He led DII in saves (280) and his .455 save percentage and 13.49 goals against average were best for any player with over 25 appearances.

Another Eagle, John Grasso, earned his first career First Team nod. Grasso, who served BU as a swiss-army knife during his senior season, also earned All-WWPA for the first time in his career following a season in which he led the conference in steals (58) and finished in the top five in goals (70) and field blocks (13). His 15 goals were most in the WWPA Championship.

Concordia, which finished runner-up for the second straight season, saw WWPA Co-Player of the Year Konstantinos Koulouris and two-time WWPA First Teamer Harry Bentham included on the First Team. Koulouris finished top-four in assists (52) and points (117) and top-seven in goals (65), field blocks (12) and steals (35).

Bentham, who along with Koulouris was named WWPA All-Defensive Team, finished the regular season in the WWPA top-five in goals and field blocks. It is his second First Team accolade in a row.

Gannon freshman Nikiforos Liantziris and Fresno Pacific senior Pietro Cattano earned their first ACWPC First Team All-America nods. Liantziris finished in the WWPA's top six in points (102), assists (43) and points-per-game (4.4).

Cattano, the first FPU player to be named All-WWPA First Team, placed in the Division II top-10 in every offensive category: goals (65), assists (34) and points (99).

The Honorable Mention squad was headlined by Biola's Nolan Rapp, the 2023 DII Player of the Year and now three-time All-American.

McKendree's Yannick Robertson, Salem's Duarte Costa and UC Merced's Camden Peterson were also included on the Honorable Mention squad.

The ACWPC introduced its first-ever award for assistant coaches in 2024, which went to Biola's lead assistant, Dr. Micah Klausman. Klausman, who completed his third year at BU, was key in Biola's 2023 WWPA Championship run, and continued to be a vital staff member for head coach Rick Nordell - who recently announced his well-deserved retirement in the summer of 2025.

ACWPC Division II All-America

Player of the Year: Nikola Krstonosic, Sr., Salem
Coach of the Year: Rob Bullion, Salem
Assistant Coach of the Year: Dr. Micah Klausman, Biola

First Team
Nikola Krstonosic, Sr., UTL, Salem
John Grasso, Sr., CTR D, Biola
Konstantinos Koulouris, Gr., UTL, Concordia
Harry Bentham, Jr., UTL, Concordia
Pietro Cattano, Sr., UTL, Fresno Pacific
Nikiforos Liantziris, Fr., DR, Gannon
Marko Zivojinovic, Jr., UTL, Salem
Mitchell Carpenter, Sr., GK, Biola

Honorable Mention
Nolan Rapp, Sr., UTL, Biola
Yannick Robertson, So., CTR, McKendree
Camden Peterson, So., ATT, UC Merced
Duarte Costa, Sr., GK, Salem