Long Beach State’s Gavin Arroyo has been named the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Men’s Water Polo co-Coach of the Year. Arroyo, who is in his second year with the 49ers, shared the honor with UC Irvine’s Marc Hunt.
A two-time member of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Water Polo team (1996, 2000), Arroyo spent the previous two years as an assistant coach at UC Berkeley. In 2005, he served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team.
Arroyo led CSULB to a 17-15 mark in 2007, a six-game improvement over the 2006 record of 11-17. The 49ers went 2-6 in conference play, but four of the six defeats were by just one goal. Last season, the 49ers lost six conference games by an average of almost seven goals per game. Included in the 49er wins this season was a thrilling 7-5 win over then No. 2-ranked Stanford University at the 49er campus pool.
