Big South Announces 2016 Women's Soccer Annual Awards
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – High Point redshirt-senior Kelsey Perrell (King, N.C.) and Liberty redshirt-senior goalkeeper Holly Van Noord (Hudsonville, Mich.) have been voted the 2016 Big South Women’s Soccer Attacking Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, by the conference’s head coaches, it was announced this morning by the league office. Liberty forward Gabrielle Farrell (Langhorne, Pa.) was tabbed Freshman of the Year, while HPU’s Marty Beall was voted Coach of the Year. In addition, the Big South’s sports information directors voted High Point junior Becca Rolfe as the women’s soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Perrell becomes the first High Point player to be voted Big South Attacking Player of Year, as she finished the regular-season as the conference’s leading goal scorer with nine and tied for the top spot with 21 points. She started all 18 games and notched four game-winning goals for the Panthers. A three-time Attacking Player of the Week selection in 2016, Perrell scored a league-leading six goals in Big South games, three of which were game-winners, and tied for first with 14 points in conference. She recorded braces in wins over Liberty and Presbyterian, and had a goal and assist in games against William & Mary and Gardner-Webb. Perrell received four first-place votes and 20 total points in Attacking Player of the Year voting, ahead of Campbell’s Payton Ormsby (three first-place votes and 14 points) and Farrell (two first-place votes and 11 points).
Van Noord claims her second Defensive Player of the Year honor in three seasons after leading the Big South with a 0.80 goals against average and .866 saves percentage, while ranking second in shutouts with 7.1 and third with 84 saves. A two-time Big South Defensive Player of the Week honoree this season, Van Noord was 11-6-0 in goal for the Lady Flames and allowed just 13 goals in more than 1,450 minutes in net. In conference action, she allowed just four scores in 753 minutes for a 0.48 GAA. Van Noord posted a .909 saves percentage with 4.1 shutouts in nine starts. She collected five first-place votes and 21 total points, ahead of High Point’s Alex Hank (three first-place votes and 17 points) and Campbell’s Murita Storey (two first-place votes and 13 points).
Farrell is just the second Lady Flame to be voted Women’s Soccer Freshman of the Year. She was first in the conference with five game-winning scores and 1.18 points per game, as she finished the regular-season with seven goals and six assists. Farrell was third overall with 20 points, and earned Freshman of the Week accolades three times this year. Liberty’s leader in goals, assists and points, Farrell ranked high among the leaders in Big South games, as her 14 points and 1.56 points per game in nine appearances led the conference. She posted five goals (three game-winners) and four helpers against league foes in her first collegiate season. Farrell, who also earned First-Team All-Conference and All-Freshman honors, received all nine possible first-place votes and 27 points in the Freshman of the Year voting, ahead of Campbell’s Alexa Genas (17 points).
Beall earns his second Big South Coach of the Year honor as he led the Panthers to the outright Big South regular-season title with a 7-1-1 record (22 points) and No. 1 seed in this week’s Big South Women’s Soccer Championship. His squad went 11-5-2 overall during the regular season -- the program’s third consecutive double-digit victory total, and tied for the overall lead with eight shutouts. In conference games, the Panthers posted a miniscule 0.33 goals against average as the unit permitted just three goals in 830 minutes. In addition, High Point led the Big South in shots (16.44), shutouts (6) and corner kicks (6.33) in league competition. Beall received five first-place votes and 18 total points in the voting, ahead of Gardner-Webb’s Mike Varga (two first-place votes and 14 points) and Campbell’s Stuart Horne (two first-place votes and 13 points).
Rolfe is a 3.95 student in Exercise Science, and was also voted to the All-Conference team for the third time in her career. She started all 18 games at midfield and posted six points (one goal, four assists) for the Panthers.
The league also announced the 2016 All-Conference and All-Academic teams Friday morning, which are listed below. The All-Conference team is voted by the head coaches and features four forwards, four midfielders, four defenders and one goalkeeper on each team, plus five honorable mention honorees regardless of position. The All-Academic Team consists of one student-athlete from each institution that meets the criteria and is nominated and selected by the Big South’s sports information directors.
2016 Big South Conference Women’s Soccer Award Winners
First-Team All-Conference
F: Kelsey Perrell, R-Sr., High Point
F: Gabrielle Farrell, Fr., Liberty
F: Alexa Genas, Fr., Campbell
F: Brandi Arey, Sr., Gardner-Webb
MF: Payton Ormsby, Sr., Campbell
MF: Becca Rolfe, Jr., High Point
MF: Amanda Spencer, Sr., Longwood
MF: Isabella Habuda, Jr., Liberty
D: Paige Lloyd, Jr., High Point
D: Murita Storey, Sr., Campbell
D: Sydney Wallace, Soph., Longwood
D: Bri Nagle, Sr., Gardner-Webb
GK: Holly Van Noord, R-Sr., Liberty
Second-Team All-Conference
F: Jennifer Knoebel, Jr., Liberty
F: Anna Sells, Sr., Charleston Southern
F: Paige Trent, Sr., UNC Asheville
F: Nelia Perez, Fr., Radford
MF: Jordan Lundin, Jr., Radford
MF: Jasmine Casarez, Soph., Radford
MF: Christine Kindt, Sr., Campbell
MF: Stina Kleppe, Fr., Gardner-Webb
D: Hannah Duff, Sr., Radford
D: Lauren Watts, Sr., Winthrop
D: Emma Houser, Jr., UNC Asheville
D: Sami Santos, Jr., Liberty
GK: Alex Hank, Jr., High Point
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Maria Kirby, GK, Jr., Longwood
Kine Thorsvik, MF, Sr., Campbell
Caroline Houser, F, Jr., UNC Asheville
Janese Quick, MF, Jr., Longwood
Eline Glamsland, F, Fr., Gardner-Webb
All-Freshman Team
Gabrielle Farrell, F, Liberty
Alexa Genas, F, Campbell
Eline Glamsland, F, Gardner-Webb
Nelia Perez, F, Radford
Allie Reagan, D, High Point
Alex Denny, F, High Point
Taylor Alvey, D, Longwood
Stina Kleppe, MF, Gardner-Webb
Sisi Lam, F, Liberty
Callie Beckwith, D, Campbell
Kyle Levesque, D, High Point
All-Academic Team
Kine Thorsvik, MF, Sr., Campbell
Lydia Frierson, MF, Jr., Charleston Southern
Brandi Arey, F, Sr., Gardner-Webb
Becca Rolfe, MF, Jr., High Point
Holly Van Noord, GK, R-Sr., Liberty
Gina D’Orazio, D/MF, Sr., Longwood
Kia Mattison, D, Sr., Presbyterian College
Hannah Duff, D, Sr., Radford
Keller Dixon, GK, Soph., UNC Asheville
Zoe Conover, MF/D, Jr., Winthrop
Attacking Player of the Year
Kelsey Perrell, F, R-Sr., High Point
Defensive Player of the Year
Holly Van Noord, GK, R-Sr., Liberty
Freshman of the Year
Gabby Farrell, F, Liberty
Coach of the Year
Marty Beall, High Point
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Becca Rolfe, MF, Jr., High Point