Oct. 30, 2008
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 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V First Team, it was announced Thursday. It’s the second consecutive year that Bock has been chosen for academic all-district honors (she also was a first-team pick in 2007), while Weber was not previously eligible for the honor due to her transfer from the University of Wisconsin prior to the ’07 season (program rules require a player to have spent a minimum of one calendar year at their new school before becoming eligible).
With their selections to the first team, Bock and Weber now are eligible for Academic All-America honors, with Bock looking to build on her third-team Academic All-America citation last year. She also garnered All-America status in 2007, becoming the 51st student-athlete in the storied history of Notre Dame athletics (and the third Irish women’s soccer player) to couple All-America honors on the field and in the classroom in the same season. Should she earn her way back on the Academic All-America Team this year, Bock would be the eighth Notre Dame women’s soccer player to receive the prestigious honor more than once in her career.
Both Bock and Weber are hoping to continue an unmatched tradition of successful student-athletes in the Irish women’s soccer program, an Academic All-America heritage that includes 20 selections during the previous 13 seasons. Seven Notre Dame women’s soccer players have combined for 11 first-team Academic All-America honors, with the Irish program producing at least one first-teamer in seven of the previous 12 years. At least one Notre Dame women’s soccer player has been chosen as an Academic All-American in 11 of the past 13 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 has displayed 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, is ongoing (through Nov. 19) with fans able to vote daily for up to three finalists by clicking here.
On the field, Bock ranks among the top 10 in the BIG EAST in almost every offensive category, including assists (5th – 9), assists per game (5th – 0.53), points per game (1.24) and total points (6th – 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 has been 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, having started all 44 games since coming to Notre Dame in 2007. This year, she has helped the Irish post a 0.44 goals-against average, while holding opponents to just 2.44 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. Earlier this week, she was tapped for a place on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll, adding to the trophy she already took home back on Aug. 31 as a member of the Inn at Saint Mary’s Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team.
Voting for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V Team was conducted by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) in that district, which encompasses Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin, as well as the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. To qualify, student-athletes must hold at least sophomore status, own a minimum GPA of 3.3 or better, and be either a starter or key reserve for their team.
Joining Bock and Weber on this year’s Academic All-District V First Team were: goalkeeper Lindsey Curnock (Northern Illinois); defenders Morgan Cox (Butler), Katie Miller (Marquette) and Amanda Stinson (Wisconsin-Green Bay); midfielders Thea Johnson (Northern Illinois), Molly Kruger (Butler) and Julie Winkler (Evansville); and forwards Jackie Kondratko (Valparaiso), Kayla Lambert (Evansville) and Cynthia Morote-Ariza (Loyola-Chicago). In addition to Bock, Weber and Miller, the rest of the 14 BIG EAST Conference honorees included: Syracuse’s Danielle Jordan (first team in District I) and Karrah Benson (second team in District I); Rutgers’ Nina Montero (first team in District II); Villanova’s Laura Sylvester (first team in District II); Georgetown’s Jackie DesJardin, Caitlin Durkee and Stephanie Zare (all second team in District II); West Virginia’s Deana Everett and Robin Rushton (both second team in District II); Seton Hall’s Anne Anders (second team in District II); and Cincinnati’s Kim Sykes (second team in District IV).
No. 1 Notre Dame (18-0-0, 11-0-0 BIG EAST) already has completed the first unbeaten and untied regular season in the program’s 21-year history. The Irish, who won their 11th BIG EAST regular-season title in 14 seasons of league membership, have earned a first-round bye for the BIG EAST Championship and will play host to Cincinnati in a tournament quarterfinal game on Sunday, Nov. 2, at 1 p.m. (ET) at Alumni Field.
Tickets for this, and all remaining Irish home games, as well as the 2008 BIG EAST Championship semifinals and finals (to be played at Notre Dame Nov. 7 & 9), can 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), or by visiting the Alumni Field ticket windows on game night.
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