ODAC Announces 2022 All-ODAC Field Hockey Awards

FOREST, Va. --- The University of Lynchburg and Shenandoah University tied for a league-high nine all-conference honorees while ODAC champion Washington and Lee University added three special individual honors to its haul of seven all-league selections to headline the 2022 All-ODAC Field Hockey Awards.

Shenandoah garnered both top individual honors with forward Mairead McKibbin earning ODAC Offensive Player of the Year laurels and back Elise Velasquez collecting ODAC Defensive Player of the Year distinction. Generals mentor Gina Wills received ODAC Coach of the Year recognition from her peers for a second straight season. W&L forward Betty Boatwright was tabbed the ODAC Rookie of the Year, while teammate and 2021 ODAC Player of the Year Tess Muneses received her second straight ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete of the Year award from the conference's athletic communications personnel.

There are a few more new names on the 2022 All-ODAC lists compared to last year's contingent of repeat honorees. A total of 19 standouts were honored this season as well as 2021. That includes 11 members on the 13-player All-ODAC First Team. McKibbin and Velasquez were both first team selections last season, a distinction that is also shared by SU teammate Kelsey Jones. Jones, the 2020 ODAC Player of the Year, is the third five-time All-ODAC selection for field hockey. Muneses is a repeat first team choice, as well as Lynchburg defender Aaryn Boatwright.

Four players stepped up to the first team from last year's All-ODAC Second Team. That group includes Lynchburg forward Emily Yanes, SU forward Cassidy Morrison, and W&L attackers Freddie Tobeason and Peyton Tysinger. Lynchburg's duo of midfielder Brittany Claybaugh and defender Ryleigh Cameron are on the first team after earning All-ODAC Third Team recognition last year.

RELATED: 2021 All-ODAC Awards | All-Time All-Conference

McKibbin, a sophomore from Magnolia, Del., has been an offensive juggernaut in her first two seasons in Winchester with 109 points on 42 goals and 25 assists. McKibbin currently sits atop the ODAC tables in points (63) and goals scored (27). She is tied for sixth in assists (9). Those numbers have her near the top of the Division III statistical rankings. Through this weekend, McKibbin tied for third in goals scored and ranks fifth fifth in points, sixth in goals per game (1.35), and eighth in points per game (3.15). The three-time ODAC Player of the Week registered at least one point in 19-of-20 games played this season. She matched her career-high with eight points in a 10-1 win over Washington & Jefferson early this year. She scored four goals in that contest, the first of eight games in which she'd rattled the cage multiple times this season.

Velasquez, a junior from Herndon, Va., was a major contributor on not only Shenandoah's defensive unit, but also in triggering the Hornets transition with solid distribution out of the back. Velasquez helped Shenandoah surrender just 23 goals and post a 1.15 goals against average, both third-lowest in the league. Against league opponents, SU tied with Lynchburg for league-lows of eight goals allowed and 1.00 GAA's. Velasquez is a two-time captain and the leader of the defensive unit. She is a strong on-ball defender and played a pivotal role on Shenandoah's defensive corner unit that allowed only eight goals on 77 chances. The Hornets registered eight shutouts on the season with seven other games of allowing only one goal.

Wills is in her eighth season guiding the Generals program and her 16th year as a collegiate field hockey coach. This is the fourth time she has been honored as the ODAC's top coach, pairing this year's honor with the recognition she received in 2015, 2017, and 2021. Wills has led Washington and Lee to the #13 ranking in the latest (11/8/22) top-20 poll published by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA). The 16-2 Generals are riding a nine-game winning streak that includes a 1-0 overtime victory over Lynchburg in the ODAC title game. W&L will host an NCAA first round contest against Ohio Wesleyan University on Wednesday to open the Generals fourth appearance on the national stage. Wills enters that contest with a 220-82 (.728) that includes a 99-42 (.702) mark at W&L.

Boatwright, a first-year from Washington, D.C., has been an offensive standout from the outset for the Generals with goals in her first two collegiate games. Eighteen outings and 17 starts later, Boatwright has posted 24 points on 10 goals and four assists. She has contributed to the scoreline in nine games so far this season with at least one more opportunity coming in the NCAA Tournament. Twice she registered two goals in a game -- the first time in a 9-1 victory over Ferrum and then in a 5-2 triumph over Shenandoah in what would become the difference-making contest in the Generals securing top-billing in the ODAC Tournament.

Muneses, a senior from Howard County, Md., stars both on and off the field for the Generals. In the classroom, Muneses maintains a 3.918 grade point average as an economics and mathematics double-major. Six times she has been honored as a W&L Scholar-Athlete with six appearances on the W&L President's List, three NFHCA Academic Squad and ODAC All-Academic Team appointments, and a pair of NFHCA Scholar of Distinction awards. A regular volunteer at Campus Kitchen, Muneses received the Elizabeth B. Garrett Scholarship in 2021 and interned for PPM America in its risk management department in 2022. She also has experience as an intern for Baltimore Gas & Electric where she helped develop a forecasting tool for the outdoor lighting department.

On the field, Muneses is the lynchpin to Washington and Lee's success not only as an offensive force, but in linking the Generals transition play. With the NCAA Tournament upcoming, the now four-time All-ODAC honoree has racked up 20 points on six goals and an ODAC eighth-best eight assists. Those helpers bring her career total to 27, the most in W&L field hockey history. Muneses has registered at least one point in four of her last six games played including a goal and an assist in a 3-0 win over Roanoke in the ODAC semifinals.

Listed below are the 2022 All-ODAC Field Hockey Awards.  For more information, visit any of the participating schools' websites, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com.  Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.

ODAC Offensive Player of the Year: Mairead McKibbin, So., F, Shenandoah
ODAC Defensive Player of the Year: Elise Velasquez, Jr., D, Shenandoah
ODAC Coach of the Year: Gina Wills, Washington and Lee
ODAC Rookie of the Year: Betty Boatwright, Fy., F, Washington and Lee
ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete: Tess Muneses, Sr., M, Washington and Lee