Nov. 5, 2007

Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's soccer team earned numerous Big 12 postseason honors for their outstanding play during the 2007 regular season. Tiger Head Coach Bryan Blitz was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year, while freshman forward Alysha Bonnick was named the league's Rookie of the Year. Tiger sophomore Kristin Andrighetto was selected to the All-Big 12 first team, and Kat Tarr, Mo Redmond, Meghan Pfeiffer and Michelle Collins were selected to the second team. Additionally, Tasha Dittamore, Katya Hessel and Bonnick were named to the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team.

This was the first Big 12 Coach of the Year award for Blitz, who has been the Mizzou Head Coach from the start of the program in 1996.

"I'm very thankful for the coaching staff I have," Blitz said. "I'd also like to thank my wife and my children, as well as our players, and the Missouri Athletic Department. I feel like our players have worked hard, and we feel like we have more to accomplish, but we are humbled by the vote of confidence from the conference."

The Tigers have accomplished quite a lot. They tied a program record with six Big 12 wins, tying them for third in the league. Their third place finish ties the highest conference finish in program history, as the 1999 team also finished tied for third. The Tigers, who finished the 2006 season tied for 10th, made the biggest improvement among all league teams from 2006 to 2007. They also completed their biggest conference turnaround in program history.

Blitz is 124-112-9 as Mizzou's Head Coach, but after one of his most successful regular seasons ever, he pointed the focus back to the Tiger student-athletes.

"Coaches don't win games," Blitz humbly noted. "Players do."

A league-high eight Mizzou women's soccer players were recognized by the conference for their play during the regular season. Bonnick earned the Rookie of the Year award for her outstanding freshman season. She currently has nine goals, which ranks fifth in the league. She has dished out eight assists on the season, which ties her for first in the conference. She is tied for third with 26 points, and she is second with five game-winning goals. Bonnick is the first Tiger to win a Player of the Year honor in any category.

Andrighetto is only the second player in program history to make the All-Big 12 first team. Mizzou has not landed a player on the first team since Nikki Thole made the team in 2000. Thole also earned first team honors in 1999 and 1998. Andrighetto's selection comes as no surprise, as she is first or second in the conference's assists, goals and points scored categories. She is tied for first with eight assists, and she is second behind only Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Ashlee Pistorius in points (32) and goals scored (12).

Tarr, Redmond, Pfeiffer and Collins each earned their first career selections to the conference's second team. Tarr, a junior defender, has scored four goals on the season, and has started all but one game on defense, helping the Tigers record six shutouts. Redmond, a junior midfielder, has scored two goals and dished out six assists on the season, including five game-winning assists. Pfeiffer, a redshirt sophomore midfielder, has started all 18 games for Mizzou, notching one goal and one assist on the season. Collins, a sophomore forward, has scored 11 goals this season, helping Mizzou's offense finish the regular season in a tie for 11th nationally with a 2.61 goals per game average.

In addition to Bonnick, two other Mizzou newcomers were recognized among the conference's best first year Big 12 players. Dittamore, a sophomore goalkeeper, who transferred to Mizzou from the University of Dayton after last season, has earned a 6-3 record, including three shutouts. Hessel, a freshman midfielder, has scored two goals and dished out three assists on the season.

The fourth-seeded Tigers will be in action Wednesday (Nov. 7) at the Big 12 Championship in San Antonio, as they will face the fifth-seed Texas Tech Red Raiders in an opening round game at 1:30 p.m. Live video coverage of the game will be available at big12sports.com.