Saveljic, Musselman Named Cutino Award Finalists

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Olympic Club announced finalists for the Peter J. Cutino Award, an iconic honor in NCAA water polo to recognize the best men's and women's players each year. UCLA graduate student Nicolas Saveljic and redshirt senior Maddie Musselman have been named one of three finalists for the men's and women's awards, respectively.

This year's other finalists include Nikolaos Papanikolaou (California) and Nic Porter (USC) for the men and Makenzie Fischer (Stanford) and Tilly Kearns (USC) on the women's side.

The Cutino Award returns to an in-person event on Saturday, June 4 th at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. The ceremony will also be live-streamed courtesy of USA Water Polo starting at 6:00 p.m. PDT. The broadcast will feature interviews with finalists, athletes, coaches plus the Cutino Award ceremony in its entirety. It will air free of charge at YouTube.com/USAWP and Facebook.com/USAWP.

Saveljic, the reigning Cutino Award winner (2020), helped the Bruins to a 20-4 overall record and a sixth MPSF Championship in program history. He led the Bruins in scoring with 33 goals on the year to increase his career total to 197, third-most in UCLA Men's Water Polo history.

Musselman, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games MVP and the 2022 MPSF Player of the Year, led UCLA to a 24-6 overall record. She became UCLA's all-time leading scorer during the 2022 season, finishing her collegiate career with 251 goals.

Established in 1999 by The Olympic Club, the Cutino Award is given annually to the top men's and women's NCAA Division I water polo players as voted on by coaches from across the country. The namesake of the award is a legend in United States water polo history, with eight NCAA titles as head coach at Cal. The Olympic Club has a long and distinguished competitive water polo history, a tradition that continues today in the pool with some of the best age-group teams in the world.