Two Cavaliers Earn All-ACC Softball Honors

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May 8, 2003

GREENSBORO, N.C. – University of Virginia softball players Ruby Rojas (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei) and Sara Larquier (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) have been named to the 12-member 2003 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Softball team as voted on by the league’s five head coaches.

Rojas, a fourth-year third baseman earns All-ACC honors for the third consecutive season. She is hitting .358 this season (57-159) with a career-high 16 doubles. In addition to leading the team in batting average and doubles, she tops the squad with 43 runs scored and has driven in 34 runs. Rojas, a member of the Venezuelan National Team, has 12 multiple-hit and 11 multiple-RBI games to her credit in 2003. Rojas, the 2000 ACC Rookie of the Year, has a .335 career batting average and is second all-time at UVa in home runs (25), RBI (141) and runs scored (145). She is third in hits (239), doubles (50), walks (78) and total bases (376).

Larquier, a second baseman/catcher, becomes just the second Virginia first-year to capture All-ACC honors. Kristen Dennis, a four-time All-ACC selection, was UVa’s first freshman to earn All-League accolades in 1999. Larquier is having a terrific season and has set several school records for a freshman. Her team-leading 12 home runs, 49 RBI and 112 total bases are school records by a first-year and her 12 homers are just one shy of the single season school mark. She is second on the team with a .351 batting average (59-168) and third in runs scored (39). Larquier possesses an impressive .667 slugging percentage as well.

Florida State led all schools with five All-Conference players, while Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia Tech each had two selections. Maryland was represented on the All-ACC team by one player. Florida State’s Jessica van der Linden was selected as the ACC Player of the Year, while North Carolina’s Crystal Cox was named the Rookie of the Year. FSU’s Joanne Graf was named the Coach of the Year.

Virginia (34-24, 3-5 ACC) begins play in the 2003 ACC Championship, which is being held at the Seminole Softball Complex in Tallahassee, Fla., on Friday, May 9. The fourth-seeded Cavaliers open the five-team, double elimination tournament by playing fifth-seeded Maryland (26-16, 1-7 ACC) at 3:00 p.m.

2003 Atlantic Coast Conference Softball Team (alphabetical order)Monica Cyphert     Jr.   MarylandTatiana George     So.   Florida StateJaclyn Holden      Fr.   North CarolinaCasey Hunter       So.   Florida StateTara Knudsen       Jr.   Georgia TechSara Larquier      Fr.   VirginiaRuby Rojas         Sr.   VirginiaJessica Sallinger  So.   Georgia TechBrandi Stuart      Sr.   Florida StateTiffany Tolleson   Sr.   North CarolinaJessica van der Linden   Jr.   Florida StateElisa Vasquez      Jr.   Florida StateACC Player of the Year   Jessica van der Linden   Florida StateACC Rookie of the Year   Crystal Cox   North CarolinaACC Coach of the Year    Joanne Graf   Florida State