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June 22, 2006
Virginia student-athletes Nikki Lieb and Blair Weymouth took home top honors as the Virginia Sports Information Directors’ Association named the 2006 All-State (University Division) Women’s Lacrosse Teams. Lieb was named the Player of the Year while Weymouth was tabbed as the Rookie of the Year. Three other Cavaliers, Tyler Leachman, Kim Connors, and Julie Hauser were named to the first team, while Jen Holden, Jessy Morgan and Ginger Miles were all named to the second team. Virginia led all schools with five first-team honorees and eight honorees overall.
Lieb is Virginia’s first-ever National Defensive Midfielder of the Year. She led the Cavaliers in draw controls with 43 and earned first-team All-American honors in the midfield after earning honors as a defender the last two years. This year she was called up on be a more offensive threat, and Lieb responded with more points this year (41) than her first three years combined (39). An All-ACC selection for the third year and an All-ACC Tournament selection for the third consecutive year as well, Lieb was named a finalist for the prestigious Tewaaraton Trophy, the only midfielder in the nation so honored. Her 43 draw controls ranks tenth all-time for a single season in Virginia history, and she closed out her career with 136 career draw controls, which ranks second all-time in school history. Up until 2004, the organization awarded one midfielder of the year award; Lauren Aumiller (’03) was the recipient in both 2002 and 2003; in 2003 Tiffany Schummer (’03) was named the National Defensive Player of the Year. This is the second year that insidelacrosse.com has named both an offensive and defensive midfielder of the year. Lieb has been a consensus first-team All-American in each of her last three years. This is the fifth consecutive time that a Virginia Cavalier was named State Player of the Year.
Weymouth is the consensus National Rookie of the Year after earning that honor from both womenslacrosse.com and insidelacrosse.com in 2006. She had one of the most prolific rookie seasons in school history. Weymouth was named the ACC Freshman of the Year after helping the Cavaliers tie for the best record in the regular season; she was then an integral part in Virginia’s winning the ACC tournament title with a six-goal performance in the title game and the upset of top-ranked and top-seeded Duke. Weymouth tied the first-year record for assists with 21, and her 70 points and 49 goals both rank second on the all-time list among first-years. She was named the National Rookie of the Week by womenslacrosse.com on March 14 and April 24.
Leachman is a consensus first-team All-American after earning first-team honors from womenslacrosse.com, insidelacrosse.com and the IWLCA/USLacrosse. She had another phenomenal season for the Cavaliers, leading them in goals for the second consecutive year with 56 while ranking second in draw controls with 41. Leachman, the ACC Tournament MVP who set a record with 11 goals in the tournament as the Hoos won the 2006 ACC Title, also had 31 assists this year, which ranks sixth all-time in school history for a single season. Her 87 points is the sixth-highest single-season total in school history. In addition, Leachman’s 41 draw controls not only rank 11th all-time for a single season, but also she ranks eighth all-time in school history with 109 draw controls. Leachman also ranks sixth in Virginia history with 66 career assists, and her 261 points ranks third all-time in school history. She is one of only three players in school history to have over 200 points and 100 draw controls. Leachman was a two-time ACC Player of the Week and a two-time National Player of the Week. She also earned All-Conference honors for the second consecutive year.
Hauser was the lone senior on the field in a defense that finished the 2006 season ranked third in the nation–after losing all three line defenders to graduation last year. The Cavaliers allowed only two teams to score in double digits–UNC twice and Duke once. Hauser was an integral part of that defense, ranking third on the team in ground balls and fourth in caused turnovers. The Cavaliers started the season ranked No. 10 and finished the regular season ranked No. 2 thanks to a tenacious defense that held many of the top-scoring teams in the nation well below their usual output.
Connors was named an All-American for the second consecutive year and also earned her second consecutive All-ACC selection in 2006 as well. One of the top defensive midfielders in the nation, Connors was a key part of the Virginia defense that ranked third in the nation in the final ranking. She ranked in the top five of Virginia players in 2006 in draw controls, caused turnovers and ground balls as well as ranking seventh in goals. She finished her career ranked ninth in career draw controls and 11th in caused turnovers.
Holden was named to the National All-Rookie team by womenslacrosse.com, joining Weymouth on the national team. She led the Cavaliers in ground balls with 47. She ranked fourth on the team in caused turnovers and was named National Rookie of the Week (Mar 27) after helping Virginia defeat William & Mary and Princeton in a pair of road games. Holden was a crucial part of helping Virginia rank third in the nation in scoring defense despite the fact that the Cavaliers played second-toughest schedule in the nation.
Miles ranked 6th in the nation in goals-against average and was named to the 2006 STX Farewell Festival’s Division I North/South Senior All-Star Game. She anchored Virginia defense that ranked third in the nation at the end of the championships season and was named National Player of the Week by womenslacrosse.com on Apr 3 after upsetting No. 2 and previously undefeated Duke with 12 saves. Miles was named ACC Player of the Week (Apr 3) and earned ACC All-Tournament honors as the Cavaliers upset top-ranked Duke for the ACC title.
Morgan was named the National Player of the Week by insidelacrosse.com (Mar 27). She ranked third on the team in ground balls and second on the team in caused turnovers. Morgan had almost a 3:1 ratio in caused turnovers – turnovers and averaged less than a foul per game. She was a tough markup defender who helped Virginia rank third nationally in scoring defense despite the fact that the Cavaliers played second-toughest schedule in the nation.