Tara Vittese Named South Region Player of the Year

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Dec. 1, 2016

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia field hockey junior midfielder Tara Vittese (Cherry Hill, N.J.) has been named the 2016 Longstreth/NFHCA South Region Player of the Year, as announced on Thursday (Dec. 1) by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association.

This is Vittese’s second-straight season being named the South Region Player of the Year. Last season, Vittese also went on to win the Longstreth/NFHCA National Player of the Year award.

Vittese, who earned her third-consecutive First Team All-South Region accolade earlier this week, finished the season with 15 goals and 11 assists, ranking fourth in the ACC with 1.71 points per game. The 2016 ACC Offensive Player of the Year and First-Team All-ACC member was named ACC Offensive Player of the Week twice this season and was named the National Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 4. She was also named to the ACC All-Tournament team after contributing two goals and three assists while helping to lead the Cavaliers to their first-ever ACC Championship. In her three-year career, Vittese has contributed 131 points with 47 goals and 37 assists, all three of which rank in the top 10 in UVA history.

The four other Regional Player of the Year honors went to Delaware sophomore midfielder Greta Nauck (Mid-Atlantic), Connecticut junior forward Charlotte Veitner (Mideast), Albany senior midfielder Paula Heuser (Northeast) and Iowa senior forward Natalie Cafone (West).

The Longstreth/NFHCA Division I All-America squad will be announced out on Dec. 7 and the National Player of the Year will be awarded to one of the Regional Players of the Year on Dec. 14.