Hokie Paige Petty (26) has been named the lacrosse Player of the Year by the state’s SIDs. Kayla Frank (45) was chosen as the state’s Rookie of the Year.
Paige Petty has been named the VaSID Player of the Year as voted on by the state’s sports information directors the organization announced Monday. Fellow Hokie midfielder Kayla Frank was named the Rookie of the Year and in total six Hokies earned recognition.
Allison Kwolek of the University of Richmond was named the Coach of the Year.
Defender: Katie Bendrick of Radford University was also named to the first team.
Petty registered 38 goals in 2020, the third-highest total in the nation. The Bernardsville, N.J., native added five assists for a total of 43 points, good for a top–10 finish nationally. Petty continues to climb the record books in Blacksburg, finishing the 2020 season fourth in points scored (182), third in goals scored (162) and fifth in draw controls (185). She had a career-high 12 caused turnovers on the defensive side of the field.
Kayla Frank earned Rookie of the Year accolades after she was the nation’s highest scoring rookie in 2020, scoring 45 points on the season. She did so with 23 goals and 22 assists. Frank scored eight points in her Virginia Tech debut against Davidson and would tally hat tricks in five of the 10 contests this season. She made history on February 19 when she dished out eight assists in a game vs. Radford, setting a new program record. She notched back-to-back game winners during the Hokies’ road trip to Cincinnati and Louisville. Her 45 points rank her sixth in D1 for the 2020 season.
She also tallied 15 ground balls, 10 caused turnovers and 14 draw controls.
Frank has also been named 2020 Inside Lacrosse All-American Honorable Mention and was named to the 2020 Inside Lacrosse Women All-Rookie Team.
Four other Hokies were named to the university all-state team. Elena Ricci, a junior defender, earned first- team honors. She started all 10 games as a part of the nation’s seventh-best defense and tallied 22 ground balls, 12 caused turnovers and 17 draw controls on the circle.
Three Hokies were named to the second team: Mary Clare McCarthy, Kendall Welch and Emma Crooks.
McCarthy started in all of her appearances this past season and set career highs in caused turnovers and ground balls. The Washington, D.C., native scored her first career goal on a free position opportunity in the win over Elon.
Welch, a team captain, made the transition to defender this season where she started all 10 games and posted a career-best 20 ground balls and caused nine turnovers.
Crooks, a Great Falls, Va., native tallied 23 goals on the season and had 37 draw controls as the primary draw taker for the program. The junior took her career point tally to 92, and she ranks amongst the top 10 in career draws won with 132. She was named Second Team All-ACC in 2019.
Tech’s midfield trio of Crooks and Petty and Frank were the only three teammates in the nation to score 23 or more goals in 2020.
The entire 2020 VaSID All-State Women’s Lacrosse University Awards teams are as follows:
First Team:
Attack: Sam Geiersbach, Richmond; Attack: Glory Johnson, Old Dominion; Attack: Belle Martire, William & Mary; Attack: Arden Tierney, Richmond; Defender: Katie Bendrick, Radford; Defender: Rachel Matey, James Madison; Defender: Elena Ricci, Virginia Tech; Defender: Ashley Stilo, Virginia; Midfielder: Kayla Frank, Virginia Tech; Midfielder: Sammy Mueller, Virginia; Midfielder: Paige Petty, Virginia Tech; Goalie: Molly Dougherty, James Madison.
Second Team:
Attack: Deanna Balsama, George Mason; Attack: Kaitlin Luccarelli, Longwood; Attack: Maddie McDaniel, James Madison; Defender: Mary Clare McCarty, Virginia Tech; Defender: Emma Johnson, James Monroe; Defender: Kendall Welch, Virginia Tech; Midfielder: Courtlynne Caskin, Virginia; Midfielder: Emma Crooks, Virginia Tech; Midfielder: Lindsey Frank, Richmon; Midfielder: Carly White, Liberty; Goalie: Megan Gianforte, Richmond.
