Belassi, Cox Honored With Big Ten Yearly Accolades
11/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Senior captain forward/midfielder Lucia Belassi (Paysandu, Uruguay/Liceo #1) of the University of Michigan field hockey team was named the Big Ten Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Year, the league announced Thursday evening (Nov. 1) at its annual awards banquet in conjunction with the Big Ten Tournament. In addition, head coach Nancy Cox, in her third year at the helm of the U-M program, was honored as the 2007 Big Ten Coach of the Year.
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Belassi, who claimed back-to-back Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors earlier this season, posted four goals, including two overtime game-winning tallies, and two assists in Big Ten play to share the second spot among the conference's leading scorers. Belassi has established new career highs in every offensive category this season, registering eight goals and 11 assists to lead the Wolverine team in scoring for the second straight year. She is the fifth different Wolverine player to garner the Big Ten offensive honor; Michigan has claimed the award in five of the last eight season.
Cox took home the Coach of the Year award for the first time in her career after she guided Michigan to a 6-0 mark in the Big Ten en route to the school's fifth regular-season title and first under her guidance. Cox, who also captured a Big Ten Tournament title during her head coaching tenure, owns a career record of 13-5 in the Big Ten and already ranks third among the all-time winningest coaches in U-M program history with an overall mark of 59-22.
Belassi netted repeat All-Big Ten first team honors and was one of three players to earn unanimous selection. Belassi was also one of two Michigan players on the first team, joining sophomore midfielder Paige Laytos (Lititz, Pa./Warwick HS) on the 14-member squad. Laytos, who earned second-team recognition last season, enters this weekend's Big Ten Tournament listing fifth among Wolverines' scoring leaders with 4-4-12 totals, including two goals and two assists in league play. Laytos was twice named the Big Ten's defensive player of the week this season, contributing two-way play in the midfield as U-M notched a pair of conference shutouts and outshot its Big Ten opposition 54-20 in the second half.
Two additional Wolverines, junior/sophomore goalkeeper Paige Pickett (Dallas, Texas/Episcopal School of Dallas) and senior back Jillianne Whitfield (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor HS) were named to the 11-member All-Big Ten second team.
Michigan (15-4, 6-0 Big Ten), ranked fifth in the latest STX/NFHCA National Division I Coaches Poll, opens postseason play in the semifinal round of the 2007 Big Ten Tournament on Friday (Nov. 2) at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. The No. 1-seeded Wolverines, who have captured the tournament crown in two of the last three years, will face fourth-seeded Penn State at noon at North Turf Field.
2007 All-Big Ten Field Hockey Honors
| FIRST TEAM# Meredith Brown, Sr., midfield, Indiana Haley Exner, Sr., goalkeeper, Indiana Meghan Beamesderfer, So., defense, Iowa Caroline Blaum, Jr., forward, Iowa Roz Ellis, Jr., defense, Iowa Lauren Pfeiffer, Jr., midfield, Iowa *Lucia Belassi, Sr., forward, U-M Paige Laytos, So., forward, U-M *Jeamie Deacon, So., midfield, Michigan State Amanda Care, Sr., defense, Northwestern Linda Haussener, Jr., midfield, Ohio State *Yesenia Luces, Sr., midfield, Ohio State Jen Long, Jr., defense, Penn State Kiersten Wood, Sr., midfield, Penn State * unanimous selection # Additional honorees due to ties | SECOND TEAM# Kadi Sickel, Sr., defense, Iowa Paige Pickett, So., goalkeeper, U-M Jillianne Whitfield, Sr., defense, U-M Florentine Rijpma, So., midfield, Michigan State Amy Schneider, Sr., defense, Michigan State Alex Quinn, Jr., forward, Northwestern Michaela O'Malley, Sr., forward, Ohio State Shaun Banta, Sr., forward, Penn State Allison Scola, Jr., midfield, Penn State |
Co-Offensive Player of the Year: Lucia Belassi, U-M ; Yesenia Luces, Ohio State
Defensive Player of the Year: Jen Long, Penn State
Freshman of the Year: Jantine Steinmetz, Michigan State
Coach of the Year: Nancy Cox, U-M
Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Margie Stoll, Sr., Indiana
Lissa Munley, Jr., Iowa
Lucia Belassi, Sr., Michigan
Rebecca Manning, Sr., Michigan State
Katie Charles, Sr., Northwestern
Yesenia Luces, Sr., Ohio State
Mallory Weissen, Sr., Penn State
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
