Water Polo News

Click here, to open the 2025 Fall Sports Recap E-Publication.

North Allegheny senior Bella Spino will continue her academic and water polo career at Washington and Jefferson College. 

Spino was a four-year starter, and captain in her junior and senior seasons. She had 206 career goals. In her senior campaign, Spino led the Tigers with 104 goals, 34 assists, and 82 steals. Spino is a three-time USA Water Polo Academic All-American, recognized as a two-time third-team All-State member, first-team All-Western Conference, and received PA All-Freshman team honors in 2022. In addition, Spino was a key player with the New Haven Hydras from Connecticut this past summer in the 2025 Junior Olympics. 

Spino will major in Finance at Washington and Jefferson College.

The North Allegheny Water Polo team had eight players named to the PA All-State team, six on the boys side and two on the girls.

For the boys, seniors Mike Stefanko, Callan Bunger, and sophomore Tabari Morgan garnered first-team laurels. Seniors Mason Shantz and Logan Purnell made second team while sophomore Filip Malezanov was third team.

Stefanko, a team captain, was also named Goalie of the Year. He was solid in net finishing with 167 saves, good for a 67% save percentage. Stefanko also had 17 assists, nine steals and two goals. He was a first-team all-state selection last year as a junior and named to the PA All-Freshman team his ninth grade season.

Bunger, a co-captain, led the Tigers offensively with 106 goals. He added 16 assists and 36 steals. Bunger was third-team all-state last season. He is a multi-sport athlete as he throws javelin for the North Allegheny track & field team. Bunger is also a two-time Academic All-American.

Morgan was NA’s number two scorer finding the back of the net 102 times. He chipped in 45 assists to go along with 36 steals. Morgan was selected for the USA Water Polo Regional all-star team where he trained in Serbia in August. Last season, he was the PA Rookie of the Year along with being named second-team All-State.

Shantz finished the season with 19 goals, 18 assists and 34 steals. He is a multi-sport athlete that was a member of the swimming & diving team that claimed a state championship in the 2024-2025 season. Shantz was named an All-American for his swimming efforts last season.

Purnell had 16 goals, 20 assists and 28 steals in 2025. Purnell has trained in Montenagro the last two summers.

Malezanov was third on the team in scoring with 33 goals. He had 54 assists and led the Tigers defensively with 42 steals. Malezanov was on the USA Water Polo regional all-star team along with Morgan this past August and was named to the PA All-Freshman team in 2024.

On the girls side, captain Bella Spino was named third-team all-state while co-captain Mikaela Dassanaike made the honorable mention team.

Spino led North Allegheny in scoring with 104 goals. She also had 34 assists and 82 steals. She was a three-time USA Water Polo Academic All-American, was named third-team all-state in her junior season and received PA All-Freshman team honors in 2022. Spino plans to continue her athletic and academic career at Washington & Jefferson next season.

Dassanaike was second in scoring for NA with 46 goals. She added 26 assists and 29 steals on the season. Dassanaike was named to the PA All-Freshman team in 2022 and was Rookie of the Year that season.

Gannon Brooks and Noah Cochrane were named to the PA All-Freshman team and head coach Damir Matanovic was the PA Coach of the Year.