Himelfarb, Kirkland, van der Ven Named to NorPac All-Conference Team
11/5/2008 9:42:47 PM | Field Hockey
FARMVILLE, VA. - Seniors Tyler Kirkland and Britti Himelfarb, along with freshman Kathelijn van der Ven, were named to the 2008 NorPac All-Conference Team at the league's annual awards banquet Wednesday night at the Longwood University Grand Dining Hall in Farmville, Va. Himelfarb was named a first-team all-conference selection, with Kirkland and van der Ven garnering second team honors.
In addition, Kirkland was the recipient of the Sheryl Johnson Academic Excellence Award for her outstanding academic achievements. The Charlotte, N.C. native has recorded a 3.64 GPA in her time at Davidson, while majoring in psychology and pursuing a minor in chemistry. A 2007 NFHCA Academic Team selection, Kirkland will graduate in May and plans on attending medical school.
On the field, she has registered five goals, second best on the team, and is the teams third-leading scorer with 13 points. Her five goals are second highest on the squad, and were achieved in only seven shots, for an amazing shot percentage of .714, and a shot-on-goal percentage of a perfect 1.000. In Davidson's matchup against then-No. 1 Wake Forest, Kirkland scored the team's only goal, the first time Davidson had scored against the Demon Deacons in three seasons. She had her top game performance-wise in the 4-2 win over VCU on Sept. 6, in which she recorded both a goal and an assist, having a hand in half of the team's scores.
Himelfarb, who leads the 'Cats in points and goals on the season, garnered All-Conference honors for the second consecutive year after also being named to the squad following the 2007 season. She becomes just the fifth player in school history to make multiple All-Conference appearances. The senior from Dallas, Texas, who was named NorPac Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 28, recorded 19 points during the regular season, via her team-high seven goals and also added five assists, and is also the second-highest point total in the NorPac.
Against Appalachian State on Oct. 22, she had a hand in three of the team's five goals, scoring two and also adding an assist. Then on her Senior Day against Radford, she went out in grand fashion, scoring the team's only two goals in a 2-1 win over the Highlanders. Himelfarb has amassed 19 assists in her career, the second-highest total in school history, and 17 goals in four seasons.
The only two-time winner of NorPac Rookie of the Week this season, van der Ven is the lone true freshman on either All-Conference squad. She enters conference tournament play with 14 points on the season, second-highest on the team, and is in the top three on the squad in six offensive categories, holding the top spot in assists, game-winning goals, shots on goal, and shots, while also being just one of two players who started all 19 games in the regular season.
Her six assists put her in a tie for sixth place in the NorPac rankings and is tied for the top spot among rookies, while also finding a spot in the top ten in shots taken with 37 on the season. She has found the net on 19 of her 37 shots, a shot-on-goal percentage of .514, and had one of the best single-game performances of the year for Davidson when she recorded a goal and two assists in a 4-2 win over VCU.
With the trio of selections, Davidson tied for the second-highest total for a single school in the league, and now have recorded multiple honorees for three consecutive seasons.
These three players will look to lead the Wildcats to their second-straight tournament opening-round victory when they take on Stanford on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the first round of the 2008 NorPac Tournament, held in Farmville, Va. on the campus of Longwood University.
In addition, Kirkland was the recipient of the Sheryl Johnson Academic Excellence Award for her outstanding academic achievements. The Charlotte, N.C. native has recorded a 3.64 GPA in her time at Davidson, while majoring in psychology and pursuing a minor in chemistry. A 2007 NFHCA Academic Team selection, Kirkland will graduate in May and plans on attending medical school.
On the field, she has registered five goals, second best on the team, and is the teams third-leading scorer with 13 points. Her five goals are second highest on the squad, and were achieved in only seven shots, for an amazing shot percentage of .714, and a shot-on-goal percentage of a perfect 1.000. In Davidson's matchup against then-No. 1 Wake Forest, Kirkland scored the team's only goal, the first time Davidson had scored against the Demon Deacons in three seasons. She had her top game performance-wise in the 4-2 win over VCU on Sept. 6, in which she recorded both a goal and an assist, having a hand in half of the team's scores.
Himelfarb, who leads the 'Cats in points and goals on the season, garnered All-Conference honors for the second consecutive year after also being named to the squad following the 2007 season. She becomes just the fifth player in school history to make multiple All-Conference appearances. The senior from Dallas, Texas, who was named NorPac Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 28, recorded 19 points during the regular season, via her team-high seven goals and also added five assists, and is also the second-highest point total in the NorPac.
Against Appalachian State on Oct. 22, she had a hand in three of the team's five goals, scoring two and also adding an assist. Then on her Senior Day against Radford, she went out in grand fashion, scoring the team's only two goals in a 2-1 win over the Highlanders. Himelfarb has amassed 19 assists in her career, the second-highest total in school history, and 17 goals in four seasons.
The only two-time winner of NorPac Rookie of the Week this season, van der Ven is the lone true freshman on either All-Conference squad. She enters conference tournament play with 14 points on the season, second-highest on the team, and is in the top three on the squad in six offensive categories, holding the top spot in assists, game-winning goals, shots on goal, and shots, while also being just one of two players who started all 19 games in the regular season.
Her six assists put her in a tie for sixth place in the NorPac rankings and is tied for the top spot among rookies, while also finding a spot in the top ten in shots taken with 37 on the season. She has found the net on 19 of her 37 shots, a shot-on-goal percentage of .514, and had one of the best single-game performances of the year for Davidson when she recorded a goal and two assists in a 4-2 win over VCU.
With the trio of selections, Davidson tied for the second-highest total for a single school in the league, and now have recorded multiple honorees for three consecutive seasons.
These three players will look to lead the Wildcats to their second-straight tournament opening-round victory when they take on Stanford on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the first round of the 2008 NorPac Tournament, held in Farmville, Va. on the campus of Longwood University.
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