Pac-12 announces inaugural women's lacrosse postseason awards
STANFORD’S KELSEY MURRAY NAMED ATTACKER OF THE YEAR
USC’S KERRIGAN MILLER VOTED MIDFIELDER OF THE YEAR
COLORADO’S SARAH BROWN TABBED DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
STANFORD’S ALI BAIOCCO SELECTED FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
COLORADO’S ANN ELLIOTT NAMED COACH OF THE YEAR
SAN FRANCISCO - The Pac-12 Conference named the recipients of the inaugural Pac-12 women’s lacrosse awards, as voted on by the league coaches. Stanford’s Kelsey Murray was named the Attacker of the Year, while USC’s Kerrigan Miller was voted the Midfielder of the Year. Colorado’s Sarah Brown was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year and Stanford’s Ali Baiocco was selected the Freshman of the Year. Colorado’d Ann Elliott is the Coach of the Year.
ATTACKER OF THE YEAR - Kelsey Murray, Grad., A, Stanford (Wilmette, Ill.) - Senior Kelsey Murray is the Pac-12 Attacker of the Year after leading the Conference in points with 89 through the Pac-12 Women’s Lacrosse Tournament, ranking her 11th in the NCAA stats. Murray is Stanford's all-time career leader in goals (192), assists (122) and points (314). She is the Pac-12 Women’s Lacrosse Scholar-Athlete of the Year and currently holds a 4.03 grade point average (GPA). She received an undergraduate degree also from Stanford in psychology, graduating with a 3.87 GPA. The senior assisted the Cardinal in winning the inaugural Pac-12 Women’s Lacrosse Tournament Championship and solidifying the automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament. Murray is also a member of the Pac-12 All-Conference first team.
MIDFIELDER OF THE YEAR - Kerrigan Miller, So., M, USC (Bayport, N.Y.) - Sophomore Kerrigan Miller is the Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year. Miller leads the league in caused turnovers (40), caused turnovers per game (2.22) and is tied for first in game-winning goals (4). As a freshman prior to the first season of Pac-12 women’s lacrosse, Miller was named the MPSF Rookie of the Year. Miller is also a member of the Pac-12 All-Conference first team.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Sarah Brown, Sr., D, Colorado (Boulder, Colo.) - Senior Sarah Brown is the 2018 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year after leading the Buffs to the first-ever Pac-12 women’s lacrosse regular season title. Brown is second in caused turnovers (32) and caused turnovers per game (1.78) in the Conference stats behind Pac-12 Midfielder of the Year Kerrigan Miller. Her 1.78 caused turnovers per game puts her 28th in the NCAA stats. Brown is also a member of the Pac-12 All-Conference first team.
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - Ali Baiocco, Fr., A, Stanford (Harding, N.J.) - Freshman Ali Baiocco receives Pac-12 Freshman of the Year after starting all 19 games this season for the Cardinal. She scored 25 goals in Conference play and 48 goals overall with 14 totals assists for 62 points this season. Baiocco is the top underclassman in the Conference in goals with just four seniors and one junior ahead of her.
COACH OF THE YEAR - Ann Elliott, Colorado - Ann Elliott led Colorado to the first-ever Pac-12 women’s lacrosse regular-season title and Colorado’s first Conference title in its fifth year of existence. Colorado earned an at large bid to the 2017 NCAA Tournament and played Massachusetts in the first round. The Buffs look to make their second-straight and second all-time NCAA Tournament appearance.
FIRST TEAM
| NAME | POSITION | YEAR | SCHOOL |
| Sarah Brown | D | SR | Colorado |
| Jackie Gilbert | D | JR | USC |
| Kaeli Huff | M | SO | USC |
| Darby Kiernan | A | SR | Colorado |
| Julia Lisella | GK | SO | Colorado |
| Julia Massaro | D | JR | Stanford |
| Daniella McMahon | M | SO | Stanford |
| Kerrigan Miller | M | SO | USC |
| Kelsey Murray | A | GR | Stanford |
| Miranda Stinson | A | JR | Colorado |
| Lydia Sutton | D | SR | USC |
| Jill Zubillaga | A | SR | Oregon |
SECOND TEAM
| NAME | POSITION | YEAR | SCHOOL |
| Ali Baiocco | A | FR | Stanford |
| Areta Buness | M | JR | Stanford |
| Kerri Clayton | A | JR | Arizona State |
| Cambi Cukar | A | SR | Oregon |
| Allie DaCar | GK | SR | Stanford |
| Kelsie Garrison | D | SR | Colorado |
| Mariah Gatti | A | SR | Oregon |
| Meredith Haggerty | D | SR | California |
| Gussie Johns | GK | SR | USC |
| Brittany Read | GK | SR | Oregon |
| Kirsten Swanson | A | RSO | California |
| Shannon Williams | A | JR | Oregon |
ALSO NOMINATED: Olivia Aschman, COLO; Devon Bayer, COLO; Lexy Biller, ORE; Berkeley Bonneau, ASU; Julia Burns, ASU; Natalie Byrne, USC; Sophia Castillo, COLO; Eliza Christman, CAL; Kristina Coppinger, ASU; Carly Cox, COLO; Ashley Cusack, ASU; Erin Dibernardo, ASU; Kate Dougherty, ASU; Emily Glagolev, ASU; Rachel Gregory, ASU; Sadie Grozier, COLO; Kelsey Huff, USC; Elizabeth Koehler, CAL; Kylie Kroeger, ASU; Morgan Kuligowski, USC; Galen Lew, STAN; Izzy McMahon, USC; Maeve McMahon, USC; Samantha Nemirov, COLO; Maggie Nick, STAN; Madison O'Leary, STAN; Dillon Schoen, STAN; Maria Villanti, ASU; Lia Willis, ASU; Nikki Zaccaro, CAL.
Pac-12 women’s lacrosse looks to the NCAA selections on Sunday, May 6 at 6:30 p.m. PT/9:30 p.m. ET. The selection show can be found on NCAA.com. The Cardinal earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Pac-12 Women’s Lacrosse Tournament Championship.
The NCAA Championship provides for a field of 26 teams to compete in a single elimination tournament. Stanford picks up the Conference’s automatic bid with the balance of the field selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Women’s Lacrosse Committee.
The top six teams in the 26-team bracket for the championship are seeded and receive first round byes. The first round begins May 11th.
The 2018 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship will be held at Kenneth P. Lavalle Stadium in Stony Brook, NY. Two, two-team single elimination semifinals games will be held Friday, May 25. The two winning teams will advance and compete in the single elimination National Championship game which will take place Sunday, May 27.