SUWANEE, Ga. - DePauw
University's Sarah Riffle, the top scorer in the conference, became
the first player in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference history
to earn back-to-back Player of the Year awards as the senior
forward was tabbed as SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year in
exclusive voting by the league's head field hockey coaches. In that
same voting, Sally Faulkner of Centre College and Alyssa Havens of
Hendrix College were named the league's Defensive
Co-Players-of-the-Year. Complete
Release
In balloting for the remaining major awards, Barbara Parks of
Centre was selected the SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year award, and Jane
Wells of Rhodes College was voted SCAC Coach-of-the-Year.
DePauw's Sarah Riffle, a senior forward from St. Louis, Mo., led
the SCAC in points (28) as well as points per game (1.65) and tied
for first in goals scored (12), goals per game (0.71) and
game-winning goals (3). The eight points she scored against
Transylvania on September 13 (3 goals; 2 assists) is the
second-most points scored in a single game in league history. A
two-time SCAC Player-of-the-Week this season, Riffle finishes her
career with 32 goals and 70 points scored - both of which rank
third all-time in the conference career record book.
According to her coach, Centre's Sally Faulkner, a senior from
Louisville, Ky., reads the game at a superior level and coordinates
and directs players above her on the field to the right positions.
She also distributed the ball very well this season - as witness to
the 10 points she scored (4 goals, 2 assists) from her defensive
midfield position. Faulkner was SCAC Defensive Player of the Week
on 10/13/2009 and is a three-time all-SCAC selection. It is the
fifth consecutive year that a player from Centre has been named the
league's Defensive Player-of-the-Year.
Hendrix's Alyssa Havens, a junior goalkeeper from New Canaan,
Conn., was the SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Week in Week 1 and led
the conference in saves (128), saves per game (8.00), and was
second and 14th in the nation in save percentage (.831). Her 375
career saves is good for second all-time in league history and
she'll need just 37 next season to equal the career mark set by
Centre's Ann Guagliardo (2004-2007). Since the Warriors began their
program in 2007, Havens is the first student-athlete from Hendrix
to win one of the league's major field hockey post-season
awards.
Barbara Parks of Centre, a first-year forward from Chapel Hill,
N.C., finished second in the SCAC in both assists (9) and assists
per game (0.53), tied for fourth in points (19) and points per game
(1.12) and was tied for 10th in goals scored (5). Parks also led
the Colonels in shots (45) and shots-on-goal (25) this season. An
exceptionally fast and talented player, she follows teammate Patty
Cowley in being selected the league's Newcomer-of-the-Year.
Jane Wells led Rhodes College to a 13-4 mark (7-1 conference),
which included two victories and a tournament title at the 2009
SCAC Field Hockey Championships. The 13 wins represent a new
single-season school record and the conference title is the third
for the Rhodes' program (the second under Wells' leadership). No
other SCAC program has more than one field hockey tournament title
since the league granted the sport official status in 2004. In five
years at the helm of the Lynx, Wells sports an overall mark of
53-36 (26-10 in SCAC play) and is the winningest coach in the
history of the conference.
For the complete listing of the 2009 All-SCAC Field Hockey Team,
click here.