Nov. 3, 2009

FOOTBALL

• Boston College Linebacker Mark Herzlich will receive an honorary Lott Trophy. It is only the second time an honorary Lott Trophy has been awarded, the first going to the family of Pat Tillman in 2004.

• Georgia Tech head football coach Paul Johnson and Miami head coach Randy Shannon are two of only 20 coaches named to the watch list for the Paul "Bear" Bryant College Football Coach of the Year Award.

• There are only three players in ACC history who have thrown for at least 2,000 yards in each of their four varsity seasons. This week, both Duke’s Thaddeus Lewis and Wake Forest’s Riley Skinner topped the 2,000 yard mark for 2009, giving each of them at least 2,000 yards in each of their four years. The only other ACC player to accomplish this is former NC State All-America Philip Rivers.

• Boston College true freshman linebacker Luke Kuechly is averaging 6.44 solo tackles a game and ranks 5th nationally. He also leads all freshmen in tackles per game and ranks 13th nationally among all defenders, averaging 10.44 tackles per game.

• The average margin of victory in ACC games this year 11.61 points, which is the smallest conference margin of victory in the nation. In all, 16 of the ACC ‘s 28 league games have been decided by 7 or fewer points with 11 being decided by five points or less.

• Georgia Tech’s Jonathan Dwyer and Florida State’s Jermaine Thomas both established career highs in rushing yards last Saturday. Both rushed for 186 yards against Vanderbilt and NC State, respectively.

MEN’S SOCCER

• Four ACC men’s soccer student-athletes were selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District III first-team. In addition, the league was represented by six men’s soccer student-athletes on the Academic squad’s second-team. Duke led the ACC with four honorees, including two first-teamers of midfielder Josh Bienenfeld and defender Matthew Thomas.

• Two ACC student-athletes were chosen as part of the College Soccer News’ “Team of the Week,” including North Carolina’s Alex Dixon and Boston College’s Mejia.

• Boston College freshman Kevin Mejia's and Clemson freshman forward Austin Savage each scored second-half goals to lead their teams to victory. Mejia's goal lifted Boston College to a 1-0 ACC victory over second-ranked Wake Forest, the Eagles' second win over the nation's second-ranked team in two weeks. Savage’s score gave Clemson a 1-0 victory over 11th-ranked NC State. The victory marked the second ranked opponent that the Tigers have defeated this season.

WOMEN’S SOCCER

• Six ACC teams are ranked among the Top 15 of this week’s Soccer America Poll. Led by No. 3 Florida State, No. 4 North Carolina, No. 6 Boston College, No. 13 Maryland, No. 14 Virginia Tech and No. 15 Wake Forest.

• Florida State and Boston College will be seeded 1 and 2, respectively, in this week’s ACC Women’s Soccer Championship after tying for first place in the final regular-season standings. The first-place finishes are a first for both programs.

• North Carolina senior forward Casey Nogueira and Virginia midfielder Sinead Farrelly have been named to Top Drawer Soccer’s National Team of the Week.

FIELD HOCKEY

• Boston College senior forward Chelsey Feole scored five goals in a 9-1 win over Harvard (Oct. 28), she is tied for the highest single-game mark in the NCAA this season. She also added an assist for a total of 11 points, which ties for second in Division I.

• Wake Forest senior forward Raisa Schiller, who was one of nine ACC field hockey student-athletes selected to play in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Senior Division I Senior All-Star Game, earned ACC Field Hockey Player of the Week honors, the first selection of the season for Wake Forest. The pick gives all six league teams a player of the week nod this season, the first time it has happened since the 2005 expansion.

• Top-ranked Maryland (National Field Hockey Coaches Association) finished its regular season with an 18-0 record for the first time in school history. Included among those 18 wins are 12 victories against ranked opponents.

VOLLEYBALL

• Florida State is ranked 16th in the most recent Top-25 poll released by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, which is the highest ranking in program history.

• Clemson senior defensive specialist Didem Ege has 2,149 career digs and is just 89 shy of passing former North Carolina standout Brianna Eskola for first all-time while Tiger senior setter Kelsey Murphy sits alone as the only player in ACC history to have recorded 4,000 assists (4,842), 1,000 digs (1,154), and 400 total blocks (414).

• Several ACC coaches have milestones in sight: Wake Forest fifth-year head coach Heather Kahl Holmes will coach her 100th ACC match on Friday when the Demon Deacons take on Miami. Holmes will be joined by Boston College seventh-year head coach Andrea Leonard, who will coach her 100th ACC match when the Eagles host Georgia Tech.

CROSS COUNTRY

• In men’s action, NC State won its 11th men’s championship in the last 15 years and 14th overall, out-distancing runner-up Virginia by 15 Points (56-to-71). In capturing their first title since 2006, the Wolfpack were paced by three top 10 finishes; senior John Martinez, sophomore Ryan Hill and redshirt-freshman Patrick Campbell, finished third, fourth and eighth, respectively.

• For the men, Florida State’s Wes Rickman earned ACC Rookie of the Year honors, finishing 24th in a time of 24:16.16. On the women’s side, Duke freshman Juliet Bottorff was named ACC Rookie of the Year, finishing 10th in a time of 20:34.6

• In the women’s race, Florida State, led by individual champion Susan Kuijken, claimed its third-straight ACC women’s title, bettering second place Duke by 34 points (37-to-71). In winning her third-consecutive ACC individual title, Kuijken ran the 6K course in 19:39.3 and crossed the finish line a full 16 seconds ahead of runner-up Catherine White of Virginia.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

• Virginia Tech freshman Carissa Santora won the one-meter diving event and placed second in the three-meter dive in the Hokies’ win over Big Ten foe Penn State. Her 278.10 score in the one-meter and her 288.90 score in the three-meter both qualified her for the NCAA Zone Qualifying Championships.

• Duke freshman Nick McCrory placed first in both the one-meter and three-meter events in the Blue Devils’ win over Georgia Tech. His scores rank second and first in the league this season, respectively, while his 431.50 three-meter score is a new school record.

• North Carolina junior Tyler Harris won two events and recorded top-three finishes in two other events at the Tar Heel Invitational. Harris won the 200-yard and 400-yard individual medley, placed second in the 200-yard backstroke, and took third in the 1,650-yard freestyle.