RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Highlighted by
Kaylee Swaner's Midfielder of the Year honor, six Oklahoma Baptist women's soccer players were named to the All-Great American Conference Team on Wednesday.
In addition to Swaner, who was also an All-GAC First Team honoree,
Alanna Bloomingdale and
Asley Baker each made the top team for the first time in their careers. Senior goalie
Mia Pendleton garnered All-GAC Second Team accolades while newcomers
Avril Baccam and
Lex Williamson made honorable mention.
Swaner's individual midfielder honor is the first in program history. Plus, she has now made the All-GAC team every season (4) since she came to OBU. Only five other Bison players can say that. This fall, Swaner tallied seven assists, the most in the conference and tied for second-most all-time in OBU history. She also scored a goal during the Sept. 13 match at Midwestern State.
The other first-team honorees, Bloomingdale and Baker, were instrumental to OBU's conference regular season title. In the attack was Bloomingdale who scored a career-high five goals and added an assist. She tallied both goals in the team's win at Central Oklahoma on Sept. 9 and tallied goals at Harding and Ouachita in late October.
Baker was named to the first team after being an honorable mention selection two seasons ago. She has started all 18 games this season and every game in her career (58). This fall, she has helped lead the Bison to six clean sheets. Over the past six matches in which OBU has won four, Baker and company have allowed an average of just four shots on goal to opponents.
Garnering second-team recognition was Pendleton, her second career honor. She's got the second-most saves in the GAC (75), third-most shutouts (6) and has averaged 4.17 saves per game. Her best performance was an 11-save effort against Texas Woman's on Sept. 7. That total was two off the OBU single-game record. Over the last seven matches, she has conceded just three goals and notched a .885 save percentage.
Baccam and Williamson rounded out OBU's selections. They each have started all 18 games with Baccam scoring a goal against Ouachita on Oct. 5 while Williamson tallied two goals and an assist during the fall.
Off the pitch, Bloomingdale was named a GAC Elite Scholar Student-Athlete while
Makenzy Morgan and
Annika Pinter were named Distinguished Scholar Student-Athlete.
