Women's soccer forward/midfielder Brittany Bock ('09) was one of five Notre Dame student-athletes to earn the 2008-09 BIG EAST Conference Scholar-Athlete Sport Excellence Award in their respective sport, the conference office announced Monday.

Bock, Weber Earn Academic All-America Honors

Nov. 18, 2008

2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Women’s Soccer Teams in PDF Format Get Acrobat Reader

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame senior forward Brittany Bock (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) and senior defender Elise Weber (Elk Grove, Ill./St. Viator Academy) have been named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Women’s Soccer Team, it was announced Tuesday. Bock earned the honor for the second consecutive year, receiving first-team accolades this season after third-team laurels a year ago. Meanwhile, Weber was tabbed a second-team Academic All-America in the one and only season she was eligible for the award (due to her transfer from the University of Wisconsin in the summer of 2007).

“We are incredibly proud of both Brittany and Elise for earning this tremendous honor,” Notre Dame head coach Randy Waldrum said. “It takes a very special person to be able to balance academics and athletics so successfully, and these two ladies have done just that. They have been important contributors to our success on the field this season, but just as important are the exceptional achievements they have been able to put together in the classroom. They are amazing ambassadors for our program and our University, and they truly personify everything it means to be a college student-athlete.”

Bock’s first-team selection makes her the eighth Notre Dame women’s soccer player to earn Academic All-America status more than once in her career. Last year, she paired her third-team Academic All-America honor with first-team All-America accolade, becoming the 51st student-athlete in school history (and third Irish women’s soccer player) to couple both All-America honors in the same season.

Bock and Weber also continue an unmatched tradition of successful student-athletes in the Irish women’s soccer program, an Academic All-America heritage that now includes 22 selections during the past 14 seasons. Including Bock, eight Notre Dame women’s soccer players have combined for 12 first-team Academic All-America honors, with the Irish program producing at least one first-teamer in eight of the past nine years. At least one Notre Dame women’s soccer player also has been chosen as an Academic All-American in 12 of the past 14 seasons (all but `99 and `02), and the program easily could have laid claim to honorees in the other two years. Jenny Streiffer somehow was passed over in her 1999 All-America season, despite previously being an Academic All-American in `97 and `98, while an injury to Vanessa Pruzinsky prevented her from earning her third straight Academic All-America honor in `02 (which instead came in `03).

Bock currently holds a 3.365 cumulative grade-point average in the Mendoza College of Business, where she is pursuing a degree in marketing. She earned dean’s list honors in the spring of 2008 after posting a 3.70 semester GPA, and she added a 3.834 GPA during the summer 2008 session. She also is one of 10 finalists (along with senior teammate Kerri Hanks) for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top women’s soccer player who have considerable achievement across four areas: Classroom, Character, Community, and Competition. On-line voting for that honor, which makes up one-third of each student-athlete’s final total, continues through Wednesday with fans able to vote daily for up to three finalists by going to www.seniorclassaward.com.

On the field, Bock was a first-team all-BIG EAST selection after ranking among the top 10 in the conference in almost every offensive category, including assists (6th – 9), assists per game (6th – 0.47), points per game (7th – 1.11) and total points (t-7th – 21). A consensus preseason All-America selection, Hermann Trophy candidate and the BIG EAST Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, Bock was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 8 after scoring the gamewinning goal in a 1-0 win at No. 3/2 North Carolina. She also was tapped for national team of the week honors twice this season, as well as one trip to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. She ranks 12th in school history with 46 career goals and 15th all-time at Notre Dame with 121 points (46G-29A), putting her one assist shy of becoming the 13th member of the Irish 30-30 club.

Weber maintains a 3.733 cumulative GPA in the College of Arts and Letters, where she is studying political science. Last spring, she garnered dean’s list recognition after posting a 3.867 semester GPA. On the pitch, Weber has been as consistent and steady as any defender in the country, twice earning all-BIG EAST honors (including honorable mention laurels this season) and starting all 49 games since coming to Notre Dame in 2007. This year, she has helped the Irish post a 0.43 goals-against average and record 15 shutouts, while holding opponents to just 2.52 shots on goal per game. She also has registered three assists, including the helper on Rose Augustin’s “golden goal” in overtime of a 3-2 win at Villanova on Oct. 12. In addition to her second consecutive all-conference citation, she was tapped for a place on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Oct. 27, and was named to the Inn at Saint Mary’s Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team back in August.

Voting for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team was conducted by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Committee. To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Transfer student-athletes (such as Weber) must play one full season at their new institution before becoming eligible for Academic All-America status. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

ESPN The Magazine – winner of the 2006 and 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence – is a provocative and innovative sports publication. Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversized biweekly with a circulation of 1.9 million looks ahead to give fans a unique perspective on the world of sports.

For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.

Bock and Weber have helped Notre Dame to the nation’s No. 1 ranking and a 23-0-0 record (including an 11-0-0 mark in the BIG EAST), as well as the program’s 11th regular-season conference title and 10th postseason tournament crown. What’s more, the Irish earned the No. 1 overall seed for this year’s NCAA Championship (the third time in program history they have achieved that distinction) and have advanced to the third round of the tournament on the strength of wins over Toledo (5-2) and Michigan State (1-0) last weekend.

Notre Dame will return to action Friday at 7:30 p.m. (ET) when it plays host to No. 22/24 Minnesota in an NCAA third-round contest at Alumni Field. Tickets may be purchased by contacting the Irish Athletics Ticket Office (574-631-7356) or by stopping by the Joyce Center Gate 1 ticket windows on the second floor during normal business hours (9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET, weekdays). In addition, fans can buy their Irish women’s soccer tickets on-line by going to the tickets page of the official Notre Dame athletics web site (www.UND.com/tickets), or by visiting the Alumni Field ticket windows on game night.

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