Jan. 4, 2013

STANFORD, Calif. - Freshman driver Maggie Steffens was named Best Female Water Polo Player of 2012 by the Federation Internationale De Natation (FINA), the organization announced Friday.

Steffens, who will make her collegiate debut for the Cardinal in 2013, scored a record 21 goals at the Olympic Games in London this past summer en route to Olympic MVP honors and the first women's water polo Olympic Gold Medal for the U.S.

The youngest member of the U.S. squad, Steffens immediately made her name known in London, tying an Olympic record with seven goals in the team's tournament-opening win over Hungary. She would go on to score five times in the American side's 8-5 victory over Spain in the Gold Medal Final to finish the tournament with 21 goals on 27 shots for an incredible 77.8 shooting percentage.

The Olympic Gold Medal, the first for the U.S. in four Olympic women's water polo tournaments, supplemented the gold Steffens earned with the U.S. at the 2012 FINA World Super League Final and the 2011 Pan-Am Games alongside older sister Jessica '10.

Steffens, who deferred her first year of attendance at Stanford in 2011-12 to train for the Olympics, will make her debut on The Farm Jan. 25 as the Cardinal takes on Michigan at 2 p.m. Stanford, two-time defending national champion, will go for the three-peat in 2013.