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Seven Cavaliers Named to South Region All-American Team
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November 18, 1998
Charlottesville, VA — The Cavalier field hockey team, which will play in the 1998 NCAA Semifinals this weekend in Philadelphia, received a host of honors today as the South Regional All-American teams were announced along with the National Field Hockey Coaches’ Association All-American Squad.
Named to the South Regional All-American Squad (First Team) were Meredith Elwell (Moorestown, N.J./ Moorestown), Lori Mastropietro (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock), Meridith Thorpe (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs) and Michelle Vizzuso (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex). On the second team are Kara Ariza (Lansdowne, Pa./Penn Wood), Lorraine Vizzuso (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex), and Frances West (Alexandria, Va./T. C. Williams).
The members of the NFHCA Academic Squad are Mastropietro, West, Laura Lindsay (Deerfield, Mass./Deerfield Academy), Amy Broadwater (Elizabethtown, Pa./Lower Dauphin), Becky Worthington (Fairview Village, Pa./Methacton), and Melissa Hayes (Chevy Chase, Md./Georgetown Visitation). Mastropietro was named the ACC Player of the Year this season, the first Cavalier to be so honored. In addition, Mastro is a member of the All-Conference team for the second consecutive year. A member of the US National team, Mastropietro was also named to the All-American South Regional team for the third consecutive year in 1998. She was also a member of the All-ACC team and the All-Conference team in1997. Both conference honors were first-time selections for the senior back. Mastro scored the game-winning assist in the quarterfinal game against Maryland. She was also named a 1998 NFHCA Academic All-American for the second consecutive year. Meridith Thorpe is the all-time scoring leader in the ACC with 230 career points. Thorpe is the first ACC player in history to hit the century mark in goals. Her 101 goals is the all-time conference high and ranks seventh all-time in Division I history. She is a member of the 1998 All-ACC team, her fourth such designation. She is only the third person in ACC history to be named to the All-Conference team in four years. Thorpe has scored 50 points in each of her first three seasons, and in 1998 she has 47 points. She would be the first person in ACC history to hit 50 points in a season for four consececutive seasons. In 1997, Thorpe was also named to the All-American South Regional first team for the fourth consecutive year. Thorpe was also named a first-team All-American for the third consecutive year; she was the only freshman in ’95 and the only sophomore in ’96 named to the first team All-American list. She ranks ninth on the current national points list.
Meredith Elwell, who led the league in goals this season with 17, was named to the All-Conference team for the first time in her career. The 1996 ACC Rookie of the Year, Elwell ranks fifth in scoring in Virginia history with 127 points. She stands 27 points out of fourth.Elwell was also named to the All-South Regional team for the first time in her career. Michelle Vizzuso holds the all-time assist record at Virginia with 60, and she ranks 11th nationally in Division I history. For the third consecutive year, she has notched double digit totals in goals and assists; she was the first person in school history to reach this plateau as a sophomore. She is also the first person in Virginia history to reach double digit totals in career game-winning assists (12) and game-winning goals (11).Her 12 career game-winning assists is the highest total in school history. In 1998, Vizzuso became only the second person in ACC history to record 50 goals and 50 assists in a career and she is the first person in ACC history to be a member of the 50/60 club. Shell now has 53 points, which is the highest total for a senior in school history. Her 47 points in the regular season was good enough to capture the regular season scoring crown in the ACC. Her 53 points is her highest scoring total for a season, besting her 45 last year. The 53 points is the fourth highest total in a single season in school history. She is the only person in the ACC to be named Player of the Week twice this season. She was named to the All-Conference team for the third consecutive year in 1998. Vizzuso was named a member of the All-American South Regional team for the fourth straight year and she was named a first-team All-American for the first time. She was a third-team All-American as a frosh and a second-team as a sophomore.
Frances West was named a member of the All-South regional team for the first time this season. She is a member of the United States Under-23 team. Frances was also named to the NFHCA Academic All-American team in 1998.
Lorraine Vizzuso is a member of the South Regional All-American team for the second time in her career, being a third-team member in 1997. Kara Ariza was named a member of the All-South Regional team in 1998. It is her first such designation. She was a member of the second team in 1997.