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Three Cavaliers Named to All-ACC Squads
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Three members of the University of Virginia softball team were named to All-Atlantic Coast Conference squads, the league office announced Friday. Freshman pitcher Melanie Mitchell (White Plains, Md.) was selected to the first team, while seniors Nicole Koren (Warminster, Pa.) and Sarah Tacke (Merced, Calif.) were second team honorees.
UVa’s three selections to the all-conference team are the most since 2005 when four Cavaliers were honored. That year, Virginia finished third in the league with a 9-8 record.
It is the first career honor for each of the three players.
“We have had a great season and the best part is it’s not over yet,” Virginia head coach Eileen Schmidt said. “Going from last place the last three years to second is an awesome accomplishment. Sarah, Nic and Mel have been an integral part of this turnaround. We are very excited for them as well as the entire group. I think the three would say, all year long, that this has been a team effort. I couldn’t be prouder of a group of young ladies; this is well deserved.”
Under Schmidt, who is in her third season at the helm of her alma mater, Virginia finished league play with a 13-7 mark. The 13 victories are the most in the history of the program.
In the circle, Mitchell has a 26-15 record to go along with a 2.75 ERA. She is second in the ACC with 277 strikeouts, and her 77 punchouts looking are the most in the league. Mitchell is one win shy of tying the Virginia school record for wins in a season; Lisa Palmer holds the mark, set in 1988, when she won 27 games as a junior.
Tacke, who has started all year in right field, leads Virginia at the plate this season with a .358 batting average, good enough for fourth in the ACC. She also has contributed 10 doubles, 10 home runs and a team-best 42 RBI.
Koren, who has excelled in the lineup as the designated player, bats .314 with a team-leading 12 home runs and 23 runs scored. She also has contributed 31 RBI and a squad-best 34 runs.
Georgia Tech senior Jen Yee was named the 2010 ACC Player of the Year and teammate Hope Rush was tabbed the conference’s Freshman of the Year. Yellow Jacket skipper Sharon Perkins was also honored as the Coach of the Year, while North Carolina senior Danielle Spaulding was selected as the Pitcher of the Year.
Virginia (33-20), the No. 2 seed in the ACC Championship, takes on No. 7 Virginia Tech at 2:30 p.m. today. The game will be live web streamed on ACC Select.