Ten Cavaliers Selected To ACC 50th Anniversary Softball Team
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Sept. 5, 2002
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford announced the ACC’s 50th Anniversary Softball Team Thursday (September 5). Ten Cavalier greats have been selected to the 52-member team as voted on by the five league institutions that sponsor the sport as decided by the league’s 50th Anniversary Committee.
Florida State led all league schools with 24 members on the Golden Anniversary team while North Carolina and Virginia were tied for second with ten honorees each. Maryland had five players, while Georgia Tech had three players selected.
The 10 UVa performers selected to the ACC 50th Anniversary Softball Team are current Cavalier Ruby Rojas, along with former student-athletes Elysa “Weezy” Calderone, Michelle Collins, Kristen Dennis, Jamie Hahn, Lisa Palmer, Lori Reese, Eileen Schmidt, Meaghan Young, and Stacey Zagol.
Elysa “Weezy” Calderone, who is from Cedar Knoll, N.J., played for Virginia from 1993 to 1996. Calderone, an outfielder, earned All-ACC honors in 1996 and was selected to the ACC All-Tournament Team the same year. She currently ranks second all-time at UVa in runs scored (135) and is tied for second in walks (69). Calderone is also third all-time at Virginia in hits (186) and sixth in stolen bases (35). Calderone has a .315 career batting average and at one time held the school record for games played with 197.
Michelle Collins, from Clinton, Md., played for the Cavaliers in 1991 and 1993 through 1995. Collins is a two-time All-ACC selection (1993 and 1994) and was named the 1995 ACC Tournament MVP. She was also selected to the ACC All-Tournament Team in 1993. Collins holds UVa’s career strikeouts (932) and shutouts (35) records and is second all-time in wins (72), innings pitched (761.2), games started (103) and complete games (93), and third in ERA (1.04). She holds UVa’s single season records for strikeouts (335 in 1994), innings pitched (271.1 in 1994), and is tied for first in complete games (33 in 1994). Her 335 strikeouts in 1994 and 819 career strikeouts stand second all-time among ACC players.
Kristen Dennis (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) concluded an outstanding career in 2002. The four-year letterwinner is a two-time Louisville Slugger/NFCA Second-Team All-American (2001 and 2002). She was also a three-time Southeast Region pick and a four-time All-ACC selection. Dennis, a pitcher, first baseman and designated player, holds the Virginia school records for career home runs (29), doubles (58), walks (144), RBI (158), and total bases (414). She is second at UVa in hits (255), batting average (.353) and games played (251). Dennis also holds the ACC record for walks and doubles and is second in home runs and RBI. In 2002, Dennis set UVa single season records for batting average with a mark of .417 (73-175) and total bases (134). She also broke her own single season school records for home runs (13), RBI (58) and walks (54) in 2002.
Jamie Hahn, from Pasadena, Calif., was a four-year letterwinner for the Cavaliers from 1993 to 1996. Hahn, who played outfield, was named to the 1994 All-Southeast Region Team and was an All-ACC selection in 1996. She was also a CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-American in 1996. Hahn had held UVa’s single season batting average record with a mark of .414 (53-128) until Kristen Dennis broke her mark by hitting .417 in 2002.
Lisa Palmer, who hails from Yardley, Pa., competed for Virginia from 1986 to 1989. Palmer holds several UVa pitching records, including the career marks for wins (74), innings pitched (861.2), complete games (102), and games started (112). In addition to holding career pitching records at Virginia, Palmer holds the single season school marks for wins (27 in 1988), ERA (0.70 in 1989), shutouts (14 in 1989), and shares the complete game record (33 in 1988). She was selected as Virginia’s 1988-89 Outstanding Female Athlete and was a CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-American in 1989.
Lori Reese, who is from Shippensburg, Pa., lettered for the Cavaliers from 1996 to 1999. Reese was a four-year starter at shortstop and earned All-ACC honors in 1998 and 1999. She was also named to the ACC All-Tournament Team in 1998. The career .292 hitter stands third on UVa’s career doubles (40) and at-bats (619) lists and is tied for fourth in total bases (244).
Fourth-year Ruby Rojas (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei) is the only current Cavalier selected to the Golden Anniversary Softball team. Rojas, who has started in each of her first three seasons, earned All-ACC honors in 2001 and 2002. She was named the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2000. Rojas garnered All-Southeast Region honors in 2001. She is second all-time at UVa in home runs (21) and RBI (107) and third in hits (182). A career .329 hitter, Rojas led the ACC in hitting in 2001 with a .401 batting average. Her 79 hits in 2001 are the second highest single season total in school history.
Eileen Schmidt, from Barto, Pa., competed for UVa from 1991 to 1994. She is the first Cavalier softball player to earn All-ACC honors three times (1992, 1993 and 1994) and is also Virginia’s first All-American. Schmidt, a catcher, captured third-team All-America accolades in 1994. She was named the ACC Player of the Year in 1993 and was chosen to the ACC All-Tournament Team in 1993 and 1994. The .318 career hitter is tied for second all-time at UVa in walks (69), third in RBI (102), and fifth in runs (106).
Meaghan Young, who is from Shrewsbury, Mass., was a four-year starting right fielder for Virginia from 1998 to 2001. Young is currently an assistant softball coach for the Cavaliers. She earned All-Southeast Region honors in 2001 and was also an All-ACC selection the same season. Young is a four-time ACC All-Tournament Team pick, only the second player in the history of the league to be so honored. She holds UVa’s all-time records for hits (285), at-bats (881), triples (24), runs (149), and games played (261). Young is also second at Virginia in doubles (51), total bases (408), and stolen bases (51). She is the school record holder for hits (88 in 2001), runs (57 in 2001) and triples (9 in 1998).
Stacey Zagol, from Berwyn, Pa., pitched for UVa from 1997 to 2000. Zagol captured All-ACC honors in 1998 and was also named to the ACC All-Tournament Team the same year. She holds Virginia’s career record for saves with four and is third in games started with 83. Zagol is fourth all-time at UVa in complete games (65) and innings pitched (621.2), tied for fourth in shutouts (18), and fifth in wins (48) and strikeouts (449).