Mountain Hawks announce 2019 team awards
5/10/2019 9:30:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Following a season which included its sixth straight Patriot League Tournament berth, Lehigh head women's lacrosse coach Jill Redfern announced the Mountain Hawks' 2019 department awards on Friday. A trio of juniors received honors.
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The Coaches Award is annually presented to the individual who made significant contributions to the well-being of the team in terms of attitude, improvement or special leadership. This year, the honor went to junior Christine Balestra. Balestra's impact goes far beyond simply games, but she made a significant impact on the field as well. This season, the Trappe, Pennsylvania native played in a career-high 16 games with a career-high eight starts – posting five goals and four assists, this after entering with four goals and four assists over her first two years combined. Balestra tallied two points in Lehigh's 19-4 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) while recording a single point on seven other occasions. In league play, Balestra dished an assist vs. Army West Point, at Colgate and vs. American, while scoring a goal at Lafayette.
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Junior Alexandra Ladda received Scholar-Athlete honors after garnering Academic All-Patriot League recognition last month. As one of just four players in the league to be named both All-League and Academic All-League, Ladda owns an impressive 3.75 GPA in Marketing, while anchoring the Mountain Hawks' young defense on the field. Amongst her academic achievements, Ladda posted a perfect 4.0 term in the fall of 2017 while earning a spot on the Dean's List (for a GPA of at least 3.6) several semesters. On the field, Ladda emerged as an anchor of Lehigh's defense in 2019 to earn her first-career All-League honor. She finished third on the team in caused turnovers (16) and draw controls (26) while adding 17 groundballs. Ladda tallied multiple caused turnovers six times and multiple draw controls on eight occasions, serving as one of Lehigh's top cover defenders.
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Junior Sondra Dickey was named Athlete of the Year for a second straight season following another stellar campaign. Dickey ended the year as the team leader in goals (53), points (67), groundballs (34), caused turnovers (28) and draw controls (78) while adding 14 assists as well. Tremendous all over the field, Dickey scored multiple goals in the final 11 games of the season and 16-of-17 games in 2019. She had five or more points five different times. A three-time Patriot League Midfielder of the Week in 2019 (winning it seven times over the last two seasons), Dickey caused a career-high five turnovers in the regular-season finale vs. American, a dominant 20-3 Mountain Hawks' victory to send them to the Patriot League Tournament. Dickey tied the school record for draw controls with 10 on Mar. 30 vs. Army West Point and went on to record five or more in each of the next five games. She is the only player in the Patriot League standing top five in the league in both points/game (3.94) and caused turnovers/game (1.65). Her 78 draw controls were just eight from tying the school record for a season, while she ended the season with 169 for her career, tying Kayleen Kelly's program record.
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The Coaches Award is annually presented to the individual who made significant contributions to the well-being of the team in terms of attitude, improvement or special leadership. This year, the honor went to junior Christine Balestra. Balestra's impact goes far beyond simply games, but she made a significant impact on the field as well. This season, the Trappe, Pennsylvania native played in a career-high 16 games with a career-high eight starts – posting five goals and four assists, this after entering with four goals and four assists over her first two years combined. Balestra tallied two points in Lehigh's 19-4 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) while recording a single point on seven other occasions. In league play, Balestra dished an assist vs. Army West Point, at Colgate and vs. American, while scoring a goal at Lafayette.
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Junior Alexandra Ladda received Scholar-Athlete honors after garnering Academic All-Patriot League recognition last month. As one of just four players in the league to be named both All-League and Academic All-League, Ladda owns an impressive 3.75 GPA in Marketing, while anchoring the Mountain Hawks' young defense on the field. Amongst her academic achievements, Ladda posted a perfect 4.0 term in the fall of 2017 while earning a spot on the Dean's List (for a GPA of at least 3.6) several semesters. On the field, Ladda emerged as an anchor of Lehigh's defense in 2019 to earn her first-career All-League honor. She finished third on the team in caused turnovers (16) and draw controls (26) while adding 17 groundballs. Ladda tallied multiple caused turnovers six times and multiple draw controls on eight occasions, serving as one of Lehigh's top cover defenders.
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Junior Sondra Dickey was named Athlete of the Year for a second straight season following another stellar campaign. Dickey ended the year as the team leader in goals (53), points (67), groundballs (34), caused turnovers (28) and draw controls (78) while adding 14 assists as well. Tremendous all over the field, Dickey scored multiple goals in the final 11 games of the season and 16-of-17 games in 2019. She had five or more points five different times. A three-time Patriot League Midfielder of the Week in 2019 (winning it seven times over the last two seasons), Dickey caused a career-high five turnovers in the regular-season finale vs. American, a dominant 20-3 Mountain Hawks' victory to send them to the Patriot League Tournament. Dickey tied the school record for draw controls with 10 on Mar. 30 vs. Army West Point and went on to record five or more in each of the next five games. She is the only player in the Patriot League standing top five in the league in both points/game (3.94) and caused turnovers/game (1.65). Her 78 draw controls were just eight from tying the school record for a season, while she ended the season with 169 for her career, tying Kayleen Kelly's program record.
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Like Lehigh Women's Lacrosse on Facebook and follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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