MOBILE, Ala. — South Alabama soccer swept the Sun Belt Conference’s major individual awards and placed a school-record seven players on the All-Sun Belt teams, the league announced Tuesday at its annual awards banquet.
Freshman forward Charde Hannah was named both Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Junior defender Nini Rabsatt-Smith was named Defensive Player of the Year, and Graham Winkworth was named Coach of the Year.
South Alabama is the first school in conference history to sweep the major individual awards outright.
Record Representation
Five Jaguars earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors, a school record: Hannah, Rabsatt-Smith, Rio Hardy, Sophie Haywood and Steffi Hardy. Monique Autmon and Danielle Henley were named to the second team. The seven total selections also set a school record.
Hannah Doubles Up
Hannah is the second straight South Alabama player to win both the Sun Belt’s top player award and its freshman award in the same season. Lauren Allison did so in 2013, and no Sun Belt school had previously claimed both honors in one season.
A native of Tupelo, Miss., Hannah leads the conference in points per game (2.16) and goals per game (0.89). She is second in the league with five game-winning goals and tied for fifth in assists per game (0.37).
Nationally, Hannah ranks seventh in goals and eighth in points, and she leads all Division I freshmen in both categories.
She was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week three times, including after tying a school record with four goals against Francis Marion. Her 17 goals are the second-most in a season in school history, and her 41 points rank fifth.
Rabsatt-Smith Leads Top Defense
Rabsatt-Smith anchors a defense that leads the Sun Belt in goals-against average and goals allowed and ranks second with 10 shutouts.
She has also contributed five goals and 12 points, including both goals in a 2-1 overtime win at Appalachian State and the match-winner against Southern Miss.
First-Team Freshmen
Rio Hardy, a freshman from Workington, England, is tied for second in the Sun Belt in assists per game (0.42) and ranks third in goals per game (0.53) and points per game (1.47). She has recorded at least one point in eight of her last nine conference matches, had a goal or an assist in each of her first six college matches and has two match-winning goals.
Haywood, a freshman from Hull, England, had two assists in her college debut and a hat trick against Southern Miss two matches later. She ranks seventh in the conference in points per game (1.12) and eighth in total goals with seven. She scored the match-winner against Troy in the conference opener and scored twice against Alabama A&M.
Steffi Hardy, also a freshman from Workington, has 18 starts and has played 1,613 minutes, second-most on the team. She has scored four goals, two of them match-winners, and has been part of South Alabama’s 10 shutouts.
Second-Team Selections
Autmon, from Ocean Springs, Miss., leads the Jaguars with 1,623 minutes played in her defensive midfield role and has started 18 of 19 matches.
Henley, a freshman from Hattiesburg, Miss., has 17 points and is tied for fifth on the team in goals. She scored twice in her second college match, against Nicholls State, then had a goal and an assist against Tennessee Tech. She scored the match-winner against Nicholls State and assisted on the match-winners against Tennessee Tech and Francis Marion.
Tournament Play Begins
Top-seeded South Alabama (16-2-1, 8-0-1 Sun Belt) opens defense of its Sun Belt Tournament title at 7 p.m. Wednesday at The Cage against No. 8 seed Arkansas-Little Rock (11-7-1, 2-6-1), a rematch of the regular-season finale.
2014 All-Sun Belt First Team
- Charde Hannah, South Alabama, Fr., F
- Rio Hardy, South Alabama, Fr., F
- Lynsey Curry, Texas State, Jr., F
- Nora El-Shami, Georgia Southern, Jr., MF
- Sophie Haywood, South Alabama, Fr., MF
- Alissa Jones, Troy, Jr., MF
- Grace Howell-Harries, Louisiana-Lafayette, Sr., D
- Steffi Hardy, South Alabama, Fr., D
- Nini Rabsatt-Smith, South Alabama, Jr., D
- Georgia Wallis, Troy, Sr., D
- Katie Merson, Georgia Southern, R-Sr., GK
2014 All-Sun Belt Second Team
- Fali Garuba, Arkansas-Little Rock, Fr., F
- Melinda Lukas, Georgia Southern, So., F
- Whitney Ravan, Georgia State, Sr., F
- Chelsey Williams, Troy, Jr., F
- Kimberly Grasso, Louisiana-Lafayette, So., MF
- Monique Autmon, South Alabama, So., MF
- Danielle Henley, South Alabama, Fr., MF
- Jenna Moore, Georgia State, Jr., D
- Elizabeth Havenhill, Texas State, Fr., D
- Payton Donley, Troy, Jr., D
- Mikki Lewis, Troy, Fr., GK
Individual Awards
- Offensive Player of the Year: Charde Hannah, South Alabama
- Defensive Player of the Year: Nini Rabsatt-Smith, South Alabama
- Freshman of the Year: Charde Hannah, South Alabama
- Coach of the Year: Graham Winkworth, South Alabama
