April 28, 2010

IRVINE, Calif. - Four Long Beach State women's golfers were named to the All-Big West Conference team, the league office announced on Tuesday.

Freshman Simone Hoey was named to the first-team, sophomore Noelle Zavaleta was a second-team selection and junior Lindsey McAtee and sophomore Monica Villarreal were tabbed as honorable mention.

This was the most awards the 49ers have received from the conference since 2006, when five players were selected to all-conference team.

LBSU placed second at the Big West Championships one week ago in San Luis Obispo, finishing six strokes ahead of No. 40 UC Irvine. The 49ers had three players finish in the top 10 at the Big West Championships. Hoey (Rancho Cucamonga) led the way for LBSU as she placed third with a 9-over, finishing just one-stroke behind the leaders, while Zavaleta (Lakewood) tied for ninth at 16-over. McAtee (Poway) tied for 15th (+21) and Villarreal (Yorba Linda) finished in 23rd (+24).

"I was really happy with our final round performance at the Big West Championships under tough weather conditions, especially with Lindsey and Simone," said 49er Head Coach Joey Cerulle.

"The nominations reflect the body of work of this team's performance. Simone has put in a lot of hard work to get to where she is now and will get even better over the next three years. Noelle has been very consistent throughout the season, while Lindsey has improved drastically over the last two years and Monica was impressive with just a semesters worth of work," stated Cerulle.

"This team will be exciting to watch for the next couple of years as the players know that they're capable of winning tournaments during the regular season and can compete for the conference championship year in and year out."

BIG WEST WOMEN'S GOLFER OF THE YEAR
Alice Kim, UC Davis

BIG WEST WOMEN'S FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Amy Simanton, UC Davis

BIG WEST WOMEN'S COACH OF THE YEAR
Anne Walker, UC Davis

FIRST TEAM ALL-BIG WEST
Simone Hoey, Long Beach State
Alice Kim, UC Davis
Hilary Packard, UC Irvine
Demi Runas, UC Davis
Amy Simanton, UC Davis
Chelsea Stelzmiller, UC Davis

SECOND TEAM ALL-BIG WEST
Amelia Ek, UC Riverside
Maddy Fletcher, Cal Poly
Kimberly Johnson, UC Davis
Lalita Patipaksiri, UC Irvine
Noelle Zavaleta, Long Beach State

HONORABLE MENTION ALL-BIG WEST
Margo Dionisio, Cal State Northridge
Lindsey McAtee, Long Beach State
Ashlee Nagamine, Cal State Northridge
Julia Puscheck, Cal Poly
Monica Villarreal, Long Beach State