June 5, 2006

Virginia student-athletes Tyler Leachman, Nikki Lieb and Blair Weymouth were were all honored with selection to the insidelacrosse.com All-American teams, as announced by the organization. Leachman and Lieb were both first-team honorees while Weymouth was a third-team selection. In addition, Lieb was named the National Defensive Midfielder of the Year and Weymouth was named the National Rookie of the Year. This is the third year that Lieb has been named a first-team All-American by the organization and the third time that a Virginia athlete has been named the midfielder of the year. Weymouth's honor as National Rookie of the Year is the second time in five years that a Cavalier has been so honored, as Weymouth joins Amy Appelt ('05) who earned the honor in 2002.

Leachman had another phenomenal season for the Cavaliers, leading them in goals for the second consecutive year with 56 while ranking second in draw controls with 41. Leachman, the ACC Tournament MVP who set a record with 11 goals in the tournament as the Hoos won the 2006 ACC Title, also had 31 assists this year, which ranks sixth all-time in school history for a single season. Her 87 points is the sixth-highest single-season total in school history. In addition, Leachman's 41 draw controls not only rank 11th all-time for a single season, but also she ranks eighth all-time in school history with 109 draw controls. Leachman also ranks sixth in Virginia history with 66 career assists, and her 261 points ranks third all-time in school history. She is one of only three players in school history to have over 200 points and 100 draw controls. Leachman was a two-time ACC Player of the Week and a two-time National Player of the Week. She also earned All-Conference honors for the second consecutive year. She was named a first-team All-American by the IWLCA earlier this month.

Lieb is Virginia's first-ever National Defensive Midfielder of the Year. She led the Cavaliers in draw controls with 43 and earned first-team All-American honors in the midfield after earning honors as a defender the last two years. This year she was called up on be a more offensive threat, and Lieb responded with more points this year (41) than her first three years combined (39). An All-ACC selection for the third year and an All-ACC Tournament selection for the third consecutive year as well, Lieb was named a finalist for the prestigious Tewaaraton Trophy, the only midfielder in the nation so honored. Her 43 draw controls ranks tenth all-time for a single season in Virginia history, and she closed out her career with 136 career draw controls, which ranks second all-time in school history. Up until 2004, the organization awarded one midfielder of the year award; Lauren Aumiller ('03) was the recipient in both 2002 and 2003; in 2003 Tiffany Schummer ('03) was named the National Defensive Player of the Year. This is the second year that insidelacrosse.com has named both an offensive and defensive midfielder of the year.

Weymouth had one of the most prolific rookie seasons in school history. She was named the ACC Freshman of the Year after helping the Cavaliers tie for the best record in the regular season; she was then an integral part in Virginia's winning the ACC tournament title with a six-goal performance in the title game and the upset of top-ranked and top-seeded Duke. Weymouth tied the first-year record for assists with 21, and her 70 points and 49 goals both rank second on the all-time list among first-years. She was named the National Rookie of the Week by womenslacrosse.com on March 14 and April 24.