NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Saint Joseph's sophomore forward Anna Willocks, freshman midfielder Pepa Serrano, and head coach Lynn Farquhar earned individual honors and seven Hawks received All-Atlantic 10 accolades as the conference announced its postseason field hockey awards on Thursday morning. Willocks was named the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, Serrano was named the league's Rookie of the Year, and Farquhar earned Coach of the Year honors.
Senior forward Kerri Turk joined Willocks and Serrano on the All-Conference First Team, while Serrano, midfielder Doris Offerhaus, back Kathrin Bentz, and goalkeeper Victoria Kammerinke were named to the All-Rookie Team.
Willocks leads the Atlantic 10 and ranks in a tie for second in all of Division I with 23 goals this season; her 57 points are a league-best and place her alone in second nationally. She is also tied for the league lead in assists with 11, and leads the league with nine game-winning goals and nine multi-goal games. Willocks claimed a share of the league's Player of the Week honor six times this season, and was named the NFHCA National Offensive Player of the Week on October 19 as well.
The Palmerston North, New Zealand, native is the fourth student-athlete to earn the award twice in her career and the first since 1996; she is just the third to do it in consecutive seasons.
Hailing from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Serrano is tied for the conference lead in assists while ranking in a tie for second on the team with 19 points. She was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week three times this season, helping lead the Hawks to weekly rookie honors in each of the season's 10 weeks. Serrano's overtime winner against Massachusetts on October 21 clinched SJU's first Atlantic 10 regular season title in 21 years.
Serrano is the eighth Hawk to earn the Rookie of the Year award; after Willocks' win a season ago, they are just the fourth pair of teammates to win the award in back-to-back seasons and the second from Saint Joseph's (Nicole Antonini, 2003; Rebecca Cunfer, 2004).
In just her third season on Hawk Hill, Farquhar led the Hawks to an undefeated conference record, the program's first regular season championship since 1995, and a national ranking in the most recent NFHCA Division I Coaches Poll. The Hawks have won 14 games, the second-most in program history, and Farquhar's 32 career victories rank fourth in program history.
Farquhar is the second Hawk coach to earn the league's top honor; Michelle Finegan was tabbed by her fellow coaches in both 1995 and 2003.
Turk has had a breakout senior campaign, scoring a career-high nine goals and tying for second on the team with 19 points. The Howell, New Jersey, native has tallied four multi-goal games on the season, including a pair of first-half goals in conference victories against Saint Louis, Richmond, and Massachusetts.
Bentz has been a stalwart on the backline for the Hawks, adding two goals and five assists. The native of Hamburg, Germany, was twice named the league's Rookie of the Week, including following a three-assist game against La Salle on October 7.
A native of Naarden, Netherlands, Offerhaus has started every game in the midfield, tallying two goals. Her goal against La Salle on September 18 carried her to Rookie of the Week honors; she scored her first career goal in a 4-0 victory over Villanova on September 4.
Kammerinke has posted a 9-4 record and a 1.72 goals against average in 13 starts in the cage in her first year on Hawk Hill. The product of Kaarst, Germany, was named the Rookie of the Week twice, including the season's opening week after backstopping a 2-1 victory over Temple on August 28.
Saint Joseph's earned the top seed in the 2016 Atlantic 10 Field Hockey Championship, set to begin on Friday. The Hawks will meet fourth-seeded Saint Francis (Pa.) at 11:00 a.m. at VCU's Cary Street Field in Richmond. If the Hawks were to advance, they would face the winner of second-seeded Richmond and third-seeded Massachusetts at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
