The South Atlantic Conference Announces 2023 Women's Lacrosse Major Award Winners
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Wingate's Leah Knowles was selected as the 2023 SAC Offensive Player of the Year, while Limestone's Bailey Stumpf was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year. Anderson's Alicia Cannon was selected as this year's Freshman of the Year and for the third time, Wingate's Abby Wiley was named the SAC Coach of the Year, the SAC office announced today.
Knowles, a senior from Hickory, N.C., leads the 10th-ranked Bulldogs in goals, draw controls and caused turnovers while ranking second on the team in assists, points and ground balls. Knowles leads the nation in caused turnovers, ranking 6th in draw controls and 10th in points. She has been the key factor in Wingate not only leading the nation in assists per game and rank 2nd in points per game, but has also helped WU lead the nation in scoring defense and caused turnovers. She has earned four SAC Player of the Week honors, while picking up National Player of the Week accolades on two occasions. Knowles has been at her best in the biggest games, with 6-point efforts against top-5 opponents in Florida Southern and Tampa, an 8-point effort against SAC runner-up Limestone, 7 points at #25 Mount Olive and 8 points at #25 Limestone.
Stumpf, a junior from Tampa, Fla., ranks second in the conference with 48 caused turnovers, 13th with 51 draw controls, and is tied for 4th with 44 groundballs. She was named the South Atlantic Conference Varsity Gems Women's Lacrosse Player of the Week on March 6th as she led the Saints to two wins on the week.
Cannon, a freshman from Tarzana, Calif., leads the SAC in draw controls with 145 and is tied for second in points with 84. She is second in the SAC in shots with 136 and second in shots on goal with 101. Cannon claims third place in the SAC rankings in goals with 60 and third in free position shots-goals with 18-35. She was named the SAC offensive player of the week three times during the 2023 season and ranked 4th in NCAA Division II in draw controls per game (8.75). She tied for 8th in NCAA DII for individual game high draw controls with 17.
Wiley enters her fifth year with the Bulldogs earning her third Coach of the Year honor after leading the Bulldogs to a 15-2 overall record and 10-0 SAC record to secure the first regular season league title in program history. The No. 1 seed in the SAC Championships ranks in the top-five for multiple categories, most notably goals (302), assists (195), shooting percentage (53.0), ground balls (374), draw controls (291), and caused turnovers (266). The Bulldogs are ranked nationally and regionally and will take on No. 4 UVA Wise in Friday's SAC Semifinal match-up.
On first team attack is Wingate's Paige Kamer, Limestone's Megan Davis, Lenoir-Rhyne's Kaitlyn Cavanaugh, and Lincoln Memorial's Ali Van Der Ziel. Joining Knowles on the midfield team is teammate Becca Ruiz, Limestone's Sarah Dudick, and Cannon. On the defensive line is Stumpf, Lenoir-Rhyne's Isabelle Dunnam, Wingate's Katie Koroly, and Newberry's Madalyn Messersmith. Wingate's Megan Biase captured the first team goalkeeper accolade.
The 2023 SAC Women's Lacrosse Championship will take place at the Sportsplex at Matthews in Matthews, N.C. on April 28th and 30th.
All-SAC First Team
A – Paige Kamer, Wingate
A – Megan Davis, Limestone
A – Kaitlyn Cavanaugh, Lenoir-Rhyne
A – Ali Van Der Ziel, Lincoln Memorial
MF – Leah Knowles, Wingate
MF – Sarah Dudick, Limestone
MF – Becca Ruiz, Wingate
MF – Alicia Cannon, Anderson
D – Bailey Stumpf, Limestone
D – Isabelle Dunnam, Lenoir-Rhyne
D – Katie Koroly, Wingate
D – Madalyn Messersmith, Newberry
GK – Megan Biase, Wingate
All-SAC Second Team
A – Cassell Richardson, Newberry
A – Tia Daniel, Tusculum
A – Bella Pellet, Wingate
A – Hannah Thomas, Anderson
MF – Marissa Plumer, Newberry
MF – Reese Hjertaas, Limestone
MF – Chloe Christensen, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Caitlyn Schultz, UVA Wise
D – Kameryn Darrington, UVA Wise
D – Krysta Churns, Wingate
D – Keira Crilly, Limestone
D – Emily Phipps, Wingate
GK – Teanna Sieben, Lenoir-Rhyne
All-SAC Third Team
A – Ella Todd, Newberry
A – Abby Stoffelen, UVA Wise
A – Kaleigh Wilgeroth, Wingate
A – Joscelin Martin, Limestone
MF – Emma Jobs, Newberry
MF – Jaedyn Ryba, Lincoln Memorial
MF – Lucy Brewer, Tusculum
MF – Ellie Campbell, Lenoir-Rhyne
D – Madison Miller, Newberry
D – Delaney Duck, Lincoln Memorial
D – Liz Black, Lenoir-Rhyne
D – Jackie Tiongco, Anderson
GK – Kyleigh Eaton, Limestone
Offensive Player of the Year
Leah Knowles, Wingate
Defensive Player of the Year
Bailey Stumpf, Limestone
Freshman of the Year
Alicia Cannon, Anderson
Coach of the Year
Abby Wiley, Wingate
Statistical Champions
Team Points per Game – Wingate, 29.24
Team Caused Turnovers per Game – Wingate, 15.65
Team Ground Balls per Game – Wingate, 22.00
Team Scoring Offense – Wingate, 17.76
Team Scoring Defense – Wingate, 6.53
Team Scoring Margin – Wingate, 11.24
Team Draw Controls per Game – Wingate, 17.12
Draw Controls per Game – Hailey Morgan, Coker, 10.15
Ground Balls per Game – Lauren Bryner, Mars Hill, 3.77
Assists per Game – Paige Kamer, Wingate, 3.12
Saves per Game – Teanna Sieben, Lenoir-Rhyne, 10.71
Goals-Against Average – Morgan Biase, Wingate, 6.62
Save Percentage – Megan Biase, Wingate, 0.558
Goals per Game – Hannah Thomas, Anderson, 4.24
Caused Turnovers per Game – Bailey Stumpf, Limestone, 3.60
Points per Game – Tia Daniel, Tusculum, 5.38
– #MakeSACyours –