Five CAA Field Hockey Players Awarded All-American Status; 16 Tabbed To All-Region Teams

Courtesy: CAA

Release: 11/21/2011

RICHMOND, Va. (Nov. 21, 2011) - Five CAA field hockey players were selected as 2011 All-Americans as announced by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) and WomensFieldHockey.com on Monday, with Old Dominion's Emma Batten, Northeastern's Crystal Poland and Hofstra's Genna Kovar highlighting the list as First Team All-Americans. 16 league players were also named 2011 Longstreth/NFHCA Division I All-Region Team selections.

Batten receives her All-America nod from both organizations following a sensational senior season in the Lady Monarchs uniform. The CAA Player of the Year ranked top-10 nationally in scoring, despite facing the nation's second toughest schedule. Batten helped ODU win its 15^th CAA title and advance to the national semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. She finished the season with a team-high 27 goals, as the Lady Monarchs finished the season with a record of 22-3. In addition to All-American, WomensFieldHockey.com named Batten the National Offensive MVP of the year.

Like Batten, Poland was named First Team All-American on both lists. The junior forward closed the season with 27 goals, tied with Batten for second nationally. Poland led the Huskies to the CAA Championship Game and Northeastern's first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 2004.

Kovar was named First Team All-American by WomensFieldHockey.com and Third Team by Longstreth/NFHCA. Kovar was one of the premier offensive players in the country, leading the nation in points per game, goals per game and total goals with 28 on the year. The senior concluded her Hofstra career with 148 points, 57 goals and 34 assists, all three of which are new school marks.

ODU's Kati Nearhouse earned Second Team honors from the NFHCA and Third Team accolades from WomensFieldHockey.com. Nearhouse finished the year with eight goals and five assists in the Lady Monarchs sensational season. The sophomore forward helped Old Dominion to defeat eight top-10 ranked teams during the regular season.

Northeastern's Kaela Barker was awarded NFHCA Third-Team All-American status after finishing the season with four goals and five assists. The senior finished her Husky career with 17 goals and 20 assists.

Kelsey Smither of Old Dominion was named the National Rookie of the Year by WomensFieldHockey.com, as well as All-Rookie team accolades. The CAA Rookie of the Year led Old Dominion with 13 assists and helped the Lady Monarchs rank among the national leaders in scoring margin this season.

The CAA had 16 players tabbed as Longstreth/NFHCA Division I All-Region Team selections in 2011. Drexel junior Amanda Fleishchut earned First Team Mid-Atlantic Region status, while teammates Monica Baick and Sofia Sanguinetti received second team nods for the Dragons. Towson's Katie DeFilippo was named to the Mid-Atlantic Region Second Team.

Kovar was named a First Team Mideast Region selection and Hofstra teammate Amy-Lee Levey was named to the Second Team.

Joining Poland and Barker as Northeast Region selections are teammates Pam Aldridge, Carolyn Malloy and Lizzie Priest, who each earned Second Team Northeast Region honors.

In the South Region, ODU's Batten and Nearhouse were First Team selections. Smither was named to the Second Team along with CAA Defensive Player of the Year, Stephanie Kratzer. VCU's Kelsey Scherrer was also a Second Team All-South Region selection.

2011 Longstreth/NFHCA Division I All-Americans

Emma Batten, Old Dominion (First Team)

Crystal Poland, Northeastern (First Team)

Kati Nearhouse, Old Dominion (Second Team)

Kaela Barker, Northeastern (Third Team)

Genna Kovar, Hofstra (Third Team)

2011 WomensFieldHockey.com All-Americans

Emma Batten, Old Dominion (First Team) (National Offensive MVP)

Genna Kovar, Hofstra (First Team)

Crystal Poland, Northeastern (First Team)

Kati Nearhouse, Old Dominion (Third Team)

Kelsey Smither, Old Dominion (All-Rookie) (National Rookie of the Year)