Terps Take Trio of ACC Honors
11/3/2010 8:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Nov. 3, 2010
ACC TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | ACC Tournament Game Notes 
GREENSBORO, N.C. -
The Maryland field hockey team claimed three of the four Atlantic Coast Conference's annual individual honors as voted by the league's coaches. Senior Katie O'Donnell was named ACC Offensive Player of the Year for the fourth straight year, while Jill Witmer was tabbed Freshman of the Year. Head coach Missy Meharg earned the ACC Coach of the Year honor for the sixth time in her career and second straight season.
Junior Jemma Buckley and sophomores Megan Frazer and Harriet Tibble were named to the 17-member All-ACC team. Maryland was the only team to land five players on the All-ACC team. This is the first conference honor for Buckley, Frazer and Tibble.
O'Donnell is the only player in ACC field hockey history to earn the league's top individual honor all four years of her career. Just two other athletes, in any sport, have earned the Player of the Year award all four years of their respective careers. Clemson's Clyde Browne in men's soccer ('72-'75) and Duke's Amanda Blumenherst in women's golf ('06-'09) were four year recipients in their sports.
O'Donnell, who in October became the first field hockey athlete to be named Sportswoman of the Year by the Women's Sports Foundation, led the conference in points (77), goals (25) and assists (27). The 2009 Honda Sports Award winner guided a Maryland offense that scored a league-high 89 goals and tallied a conference-best 83 assists. She owns the ACC's career records in points and assists and needs just 10 goals to own the career goals record as well.
Witmer, a native of Lancaster, Pa., becomes the first Terp since 2006 to be recognized as Freshman of the Year. She scored 13 goals and tallied five assists to finish the regular season with 31 points, which is good for seventh-best in the conference. An All-ACC honoree, Witmer registered three multi-goal games and four game-winning goals.
After losing seven senior starters from last year's ACC Championship team, Meharg guided Maryland to a 17-1 overall mark and a perfect 5-0 record in league play for the second straight year. The Terps were ranked No. 2 in the preseason Kookaburra/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll and recently took over the top spot two weeks ago after defeating then-No. 1 North Carolina. Earlier this year, Meharg earned her 400th win. She currently has a record of 407-102-9, giving her the second-best winning percentage among all NCAA coaches (.794).
North Carolina sophomore Caitlyn Van Sickle was named the ACC's Defensive Player of the Year.
The top-seeded Terrapins will take the field Friday at 4 p.m. at Kentner Stadium on the campus of Wake Forest. They will face the winner of the game between the No. 4 seed Boston College and No. 5 seed Wake Forest. Friday's game will be broadcast live on WMUCSports.com and fans can watch live on the ACC Network at TheACC.com.
2010 All-ACC Field Hockey Team
Name Yr. Pos. School
Emily Kozniuk Sr. M Boston College
Tara Jennings Jr. M Duke
Rhian Jones ! Jr. D Duke
Jemma Buckley Jr. D Maryland
Megan Frazer So. M Maryland
Katie O'Donnell ^ Sr. A Maryland
Harriet Tibble So. D Maryland
Jill Witmer Fr. A Maryland
Jackie Kintzer ! Sr. GK North Carolina
Kelsey Kolojejchick ! So. M North Carolina
Marta Malmberg Fr. D North Carolina
Caitlin Van Sickle So. D North Carolina
Elly Buckley Fr. M Virginia
Paige Selenski # Jr. A Virginia
Michelle Vittese ! Jr. D Virginia
Lauren Greenwald Jr. D Wake Forest
Lizzie Rae So. F Wake Forest
Offensive Player of the Year: Katie O'Donnell, Maryland
Defensive Player of the Year: Caitlin Van Sickle, North Carolina
Freshman of the Year: Jill Witmer, Maryland
Coach of the Year: Missy Meharg, Maryland
! - Two-time selection
# - Three-time selection
^ - Four-time selection
- Terps -
