Saveljic Named to Academic All-America First Team

AUSTIN, Texas -- UCLA men's water polo graduate student Nicolas Saveljic was named to the first team of the 2020-21 Academic All-America® Division I Men's At-Large Teams as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) on Friday.

Saveljic was the lone water polo player named to the first team and became the first UCLA men's water polo player to earn Academic All-America plaudits since Parsa Bonderson in 1999 (also first team). Saveljic is also just the second UCLA Bruin men's water polo player to be named to the first team (joining Bonderson) and the third Bruin overall (Brian Black was named to the second team in 1983). Bonderson was a two-time Academic All-American after being named to the third team in 1998.

Saveljic, a two-time ACWPC All-Academic selection has a 3.85 grade point average in education.

He has helped the Bruins win NCAA titles in 2017 and again in 2020. This past season, Saveljic was the only Bruin selected as a first team All-American. He led the Bruins and the MPSF and was second in the NCAA in scoring with 37 goals in 16 games (2.3 goals per game). He was also third in assists on the team (10) to finish as the overall leading scorer on the squad with 47 points. He also led the team, the MPSF, and the NCAA in steals with 30 on the year. The reigning NCAA Player of the Year, Saveljic moved into sixth place on the UCLA career scoring charts with 164 goals.