Oct. 31, 2011

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By Miquel Jacobs
Assistant Media Relations Director

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina swept the SEC women’s soccer postseason awards with Shelley Smith being named SEC Coach of the Year, senior Kayla Grimsley being named SEC Offensive Player of the Year, and Sabrina D’Angelo earning the titles of SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year.

In total, three Gamecocks were named to the All-SEC teams with Grimsley, D’Angelo and senior Ellen Fahey all earning first team honors. D’Angelo was also named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. In being named SEC Freshman of the Year and SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, she is the first player in SEC history to earn two Player of the Year honors in the same season.

It is the second time in three years that Smith has been named the SEC Coach of the Year after also being honored with the title in 2009. Smith led the Gamecocks to their first SEC regular season and Eastern division titles with a program-best 9-2-0 league record. Smith led the Gamecocks to a program-record eight-match SEC winning streak to win the titles despite playing more road games than home games in SEC play. South Carolina played road games at the league’s No. 2 (LSU), No. 3 (Tennessee), No. 4 (Florida) and No. 5 (Georgia) seeds, showing the difficulty of the schedule that she maneuvered her team through to win the conference title.

Grimsley was selected as Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, continuing a trend that has seen the same player win the award in back-to-back seasons the past six years (Kylee Rossi 2006-07, Malorie Rutledge 2008-09, Kayla Grimsley 2010-11). In conference play, Grimsley led the league in assists (eight), finished third in points (20) and fourth in goals (six) despite the attention of being the reigning conference player of the year. She is the only active player in NCAA Division I with over 40 goals and 30 assists in her career.

D’Angelo was the only freshman selected to the First Team All-SEC list and did so in goal to become the SEC’s top goalkeeper of the year. She became just the second Gamecock to earn either the Defensive Player of the Year or Freshman of the Year honors, let alone both in the same season, following in the footsteps of Blakely Mattern (2007 Defensive Player of the Year) and Ashley Kirk (2004 Freshman of the Year). She was selected as the conference’s top goalkeeper in a season that saw her lead the league in goals against average in all games (0.72) and in conference games (0.82). The Freshman All-American candidate ranks third amongst the nation’s freshmen in the stat category.

Fahey earned first team honors after captaining a defense that led the SEC in nearly every major category including goals allowed (9), goals against average (0.79), shots on goal allowed (53) and points allowed (25). The Gamecock backline limited seven of 11 SEC opponents to four shots on goal or less. She finished the season with one goal and three assists for five points.

No. 1 seed South Carolina takes on No. 8 seed Alabama in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. Kickoff between the Gamecocks and Crimson Tide is set for 6 p.m. (ET).

QUOTES

Head Coach Shelley Smith
On being named SEC Coach of the Year
“I’m honored. I’m humbled. It’s rewarding to be named coach of the year among some other great coaches in our conference. I’m very happy but obviously I share it with our entire staff, our entire support staff and the team for all they’ve accomplished. It’s my award but it’s definitely earned by much more than myself. I’m thankful to everyone that can make this possible for our program.”

On Kayla Grimsley being named SEC Offensive Player of the Year
“(Kayla) has had a phenomenal year. What she’s done for our program and how she’s competed in the SEC all four years, especially her senior year (has been outstanding). She’s such a leader for us. She’s come through in real key moments and really is a key to our success in the offensive third. I couldn’t be happier for her. It’s well-deserved for all three of the players.”

On Sabrina D’Angelo being named SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year
“I’m thrilled for Sabrina. She’s been an amazing player. That’s probably one of the most honorable things to get a first team all-sec in your first year as a freshman. I’ve said the minute she came here that she hasn’t played like a freshman. She’s obviously shown that throughout the season. We’re excited to have her for several more years. If she continues to grow and develop as she is, she’ll be that much more phenomenal.”

Senior Kayla Grimsley
On being named SEC Offensive Player of the Year
“It’s everything to me. It’s tough going in and playing teams, getting respect from people and if you make an impact in the game having them turn around and say, `We think you’re the best offensive player in the SEC.’ To see the coaches vote for me for two years in a row is an incredible feeling and I love to see that.”

On Shelley Smith
“It’s well-deserved for Shelley. She got it two years ago when we won the SEC Tournament and she gets it again this year. We had kind of a rough year last year, and for her to bring us back from 1-2 in the SEC and get an eight-game winning streak to win the conference is huge. Her positivity towards the team and her faith and confidence she has in us is unreal.”

On Sabrina D’Angelo
“Sabrina getting (her awards) is unquestionable. She’s come up huge in games for us. Only being a freshman, she’s made a huge impact on this team both defensively and offensively. She’s been a leader since she stepped on this campus, and for her to get both of those is something our whole entire team loved to see.”

Freshman Sabrina D’Angelo
On being named SEC Defensive Player and Freshman of the Year
“It’s great to be awarded by the other coaches out of all the other goalkeepers. To be selected by those coaches feels great, and it’s a huge honor.”

On Kayla Grimsley
“She deserves her awards. She’s an amazing player. She’s a leader on and off the field. She gets the ball and it’s like magic. She does her stuff and gets us goals.”

On Shelley Smith
“She also deserves it. We started off rough, and she was able to turn us around and get a championship.”