This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Nora Princiotti.
Women’s water polo senior Rachael Bentley was named the Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division Player of the Week Wednesday, after her record-breaking week of clutch scoring.
The Colonials went 2-1 against three division rivals las week, which the award covers, topping Mercyhurst and Bucknell, while falling to league-heavyweight Princeton. 
Bentley scored nine goals Saturday, bumping her into first place on GW’s all time scorers list with 173 career goals. She also holds the program’s assist record, with 186 dimes, and total points record, with 359.
In the 13-5 win over Mercyhurst, she tallied nine points – tied for second most in a single game in team history. She scored five goals on perfect shooting, added four assists and grabbed a career-high four steals. Bentley was ruthlessly efficient all weekend, making 69 percent of her shots overall.
Against Bucknell – a perennial rival of the Colonials – she scored half of GW’s eight goals, including a game-winning goal with 51 seconds remaining to make it 8-7. She counted for all three of GW’s fourth quarter goals.
Bentley was relatively quiet in the Colonials 16-6 loss to No. 10 Princeton Sunday, though she did tally three assists. In all, she totaled 16 points on nine goals and seven assists through the three games.
The weekend as a whole gave GW a 2-3 record in the always-tough Southern Division and a five-seed in the upcoming CWPA Southern Division Championships.
GW will face the top-seeded Tigers and fourth-seeded Harvard Saturday in a round robin to determine the ranking they will compete for Sunday in Cambridge, Mass.
