Preston named A-10 Defensive Player of the Year; Five Bonnies earn All-Conference honors :: Senior trio repeats on All-Conference teams

April 24, 2008

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Senior Eboni Preston has been named the Atlantic 10 Women's Lacrosse Defensive Player of the Year to highlight a quintet of Bonnies that earned All-Conference accolades from the league office on Thursday.

With Preston's Defensive Player of the Year accolade also comes a spot on the All-Conference first team along with classmate Kimberly Ross. Fellow senior Brenna Houghton found her way onto the second team for the second consecutive season, while freshman Christine Hanley became the third Bonnie to make the All-Rookie team in its three-year existence.

The fifth All-Conference bid went to junior Keri Vito, who was named to the Academic team, in a voting done by the league's Sports Information Directors.

Preston's sparkling senior season is most notably highlighted by her NCAA-leading 12.1 saves per game. The New Windsor, Md. native finished the season with a career-best 170 stops thanks to 11 performances of double-digit saves. Preston also led the conference with a .541 save percentage - a figure that currently ranks second nationally. A 2007 All-Conference second team choice, Preston eclipsed 500 career saves late in the season and finished second in program history with 540. Her 25 career wins and 49 career starts both sit atop the Bona record books.

Ross earned first team honors for the second year in a row.

A model of consistency at midfield, the first team selection is the second in a row for Ross. The Baldwinsville, N.Y. product recorded her second straight 50-point season, while leading the Bonnies in ground balls (43), draw controls (27) and caused turnovers (20). Ross finished the year with 53 points on 27 goals and a team-best 26 assists. She finished seventh in the A-10 in points per game (3.8) and fourth in assists per game (1.9). Ross' 27 goals came in the form of nine multi-goal games, including four hat tricks. Ross ended her career on a 29-game point scoring streak and wound up eighth in the program record books with 132 points on 92 goals and 40 helpers.

Despite turning her attention from assist-mode to more of a goal-scorers mentality, Houghton still passed out 25 helpers for the third consecutive season to go along with her career-best 29 goals. Houghton finished her four-year career 26th all-time on the NCAA charts with 108 career assists. This season, she ranked fifth in the conference in assists per game (1.8) and sixth in points per game (3.9), while recording the third 50-point campaign of her career. Houghton led the team with five hat tricks and nine multi-goal games. In the season opener at Marist, Houghton tied program single-game records for points (10) and assists (8). The Fayetteville-Manlius graduate concluded her career second all-time with 186 points.

Houghton finished her career 26th in the NCAA history with 108 assists.

Hanley turned in a solid first season, leading all Atlantic 10 rookies with 22 goals. She started all 14 games on attack this season and finished fourth on the team with 27 points. Hanley scored a goal in all but one contest, including seven multi-goal performances. One of two players on the squad to finish with at least 20 ground balls and 20 draw controls, Hanley gathered a season-best eight draw controls in a win over Canisius. Hanley also finished the season with two hat tricks coming against nationally-ranked Oregon and La Salle.

A biology major with cumulative 3.8 Grade-Point Average (GPA), Vito started all 14 games splitting time between defense and midfield. Despite playing more of a defensive-role at times, Vito set career-highs for points (20) and goals (16) this season. Vito notched the first three hat tricks of her career this season, highlighted by a four-goal and two-assist performance at Niagara. Vito finished second on the club with 25 draw controls and added 15 ground balls.

St. Bonaventure finished the season on a high-note with a convincing 17-9 win over La Salle on Senior Day. The Brown and White ended the season with a 4-10 overall mark.