By: KSU Sports Information
Official Conference Release
All A-Sun Teams
A-Sun All-Academic Team
MACON, Ga.- Kennesaw State Owls senior Jessica Cross and head Coach Scott Whitlock headlined a slew of Atlantic Sun Conference honors the Black and Gold received on Tuesday afternoon, with Cross being named A-Sun Player of the Year and Whitlock earning A-Sun Coach of the Year Honors. Cross was one of five members of the Owls to earn All A-Sun honors.
Joining Cross on the All A-Sun First Team are three of her teammates in junior infielder Sharon Swanson, sophomore pitcher Amanda Henderson and freshman Kaylee Williams, while senior catcher Lindsay Vollmer was named to the A-Sun All Second Team. Williams, a native of Kennesaw and product of Kennesaw Mountain High School, was also named to the All-Freshman Team. Vollmer was also named to the A-Sun All-Academic Team on Tuesday afternoon.
Cross, who heads into the A-Sun Championship, which begins on Wednesday in Spartanburg, S.C. , sixth in the league with a .368 batting average and tied for sixth with nine home runs, while ranking fifth in slugging percentage (.607) and RBI (37) and fourth in hits (60), is the second Owl to win the A-Sun Player of the Year Honor, with Keri McKee earning the accolade in 2007. Along with Swanson, she was one of four unanimous picks to the First Team.
The senior has also played a pivotal role for the Owls in pitcher's circle this season, as she sports an 8-8 record with an earned run average of just 2.84 in 21 pitching appearances.
“I’m very honored to have won this award, and am very shocked and surprised that I’m being recognized like this,” commented Cross, who earns her fourth career All A-Sun nod. “It’s been great to be able to play a role in our team’s success this season, and getting able to share this with my teammates after being a part of this program for five years is the best part.”
Swanson finds herself on the All A-Sun First Team for the second consecutive season after also earning All-NFCA South Region honors in 2011. The Canton, Ga. , native is currently tied for second in the conference and tied for 29
th nationally with 15 home runs this season, and is third on the squad with a .338 batting average, and has hit at a .393 clip in A-Sun play. She is tied with Cross for fifth in the A-Sun with 37 RBI.
Earning All A-Sun nods for the first time in their careers are Henderson and Williams. Henderson, the A-Sun Pitcher of the Week on Feb. 20, has been one of the most prolific strikeout artists in the nation this season for the A-Sun Regular Season Co-Champs, having fanned a total of 191 batters so far in 2012, the fourth most in the conference, while her rate of 9.6 strikeouts per seven innings is the seventh highest in NCAA Division I. She also ranks seventh in the A-Sun with a 1.92 earned run average.
Williams appeared in all 52 games for the Owls, and has been one of the most productive freshmen in the league. Her 29 RBI this season is currently 12
th most in the A-Sun and the third most among freshmen. She saved her best play for A-Sun opponents, batting .345 in 18 league contests while hitting four of her five home runs and driving 18 runs during league tilts.
Vollmer is currently second on the Owls with a .341 batting average, and has bashed eight home runs and 31 RBI this season, which both rank her eighth in the league in those respective categories. The nursing major earned the All-Academic honor with a 3.65 GPA and was the only unanimous selection to the pretigious group.
Whitlock’s Coach of the Year Award is his third since the Owls joined the A-Sun in 2006, also having garnered the honor in 2007, when the Owls also won the A-Sun regular season crown, while he shared the award in 2006. He was the NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year in 1995 and won Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year recognition on five occasions.
“I’m very proud for the five players that were honored, and am particularly delighted for Jessica, it was well deserved, I am so happy for her,” Whitlock said. “I am honored to be named Coach of the Year, it is always great to be recognized by your peers. I think the real name of this award should be the Coaching Staff of the Year, as this is a reflection on our staff and how hard we’ve worked all year. Coach Holly, Coach Wintter, our support staff, they’ve helped keep me going and this engine running all season long, and they deserve a lot of the credit.”
The Black and Gold begin their quest for their first Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament championship on Thursday at 10:00 a.m., when they face the winner of Wednesday’s opening round match-up between USC Upstate and Stetson. The Owls, the No. 2 seed, along with No. 1 seed and regular season co-champion Florida Gulf Coast, have a bye through Wednesday’s games in the A-Sun Championship, which features the top six teams from the A-Sun regular season standings and will award an automatic bid to an NCAA regional to the winner.
