UF Soccer Team Honors Awarded at Annual Banquet
Monday, April 15, 2002 | Soccer
End of the season honors were given out Sunday evening at the University of Florida soccer team's annual banquet held in the F-Club. Senior Karyn Hall picked up the Players' Choice award, an honor given to the team's MVP based on a vote of the players. Hall set the UF record with 100 consecutive starts during her Gator career and owns the career record for minutes played (7,774).
Senior Abby Wambach was named the Offensive MVP. Wambach led the Gators, the Southeastern Conference and the NCAA with 31 goals and 76 points. Senior defender Keisha Bell was selected as the team's defensive MVP. Bell played a total of 2,167 minutes in 2001 for an average of 90.3 minutes per match. She was forced to miss the Gators' NCAA quarterfinal and semifinal matches due to a knee injury. The Gator Award, given a player that provides inspiration to her teammates, was given to senior Andi Sellers. Sellers was second for Florida with 13 goals and 36 points. She also was named the 2001 Verizon Academic All-American of the Year.
Junior goalkeeper Jordan Kellgren was given the Coaches' Award, which recognizes a player that contributions to the team are sometimes overshadowed. Kellgren, who was named to the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament team, finished the 2001 season ranked No. 13 in the nation with a goals-against-average of .624. Sophomore Dena Floyd was given the Off-Season Performance Award and junior Kara Rao was awarded the team's Community Service Award for her volunteer work.
Two Gators shared the Most Outstanding Student-Athlete award after posting 4.0 GPAs last fall - Hall and Rao. In addition, sophomore Robin Fulton was given an award for Special Achievement in the Classroom.
The Florida soccer team reached the NCAA College Cup semifinals in 2001 and claimed their sixth consecutive Southeastern Conference. The Gators, who finished the season with a 21-4-1, were ranked No. 4 in the final National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll.
| 2001 Florida Soccer Team Awards | |
| Players' Choice (MVP voted by team) | Karyn Hall |
| Most Valuable Player (offense) | Abby Wambach |
| Most Valuable Player (defense) | Keisha Bell |
| Gator Award (Most Inspirational) | Andi Sellers |
| Community Service Award | Kara Rao |
| Most Outstanding Student-Athlete | Karyn Hall & Kara Rao |
| Special Achievement in the Classroom | Robin Fulton |
| Coaches' Award | Jordan Kellgren |
| Off-season Performance Award | Dena Floyd |
