Nov. 2, 2011

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FRESNO, Calif. - After posting its first 10-plus win regular season since 2007, the women's soccer team saw six Bulldogs earn All-Western Athletic Conference honors as the league announced the recipients Wednesday night at the awards banquet.

Seniors Kendall VanDine and Molly Nizzoli, junior Callie Hancock and sophomore Lauren Lindstrom earned first-team honors while senior Laura Dodd and junior Vanessa Gonzalez were named to the second-team.

The six tie a program record set by the 2008 and 2007 squads for number of All-WAC honors awarded in a single season. There have been 60 All-WAC team honors presented to the Bulldogs over the programs history.

This is the first time VanDine, a now three-time All-WAC award recipient, was named to the first-team. She adds the honor to two preseason All-WAC and one WAC All-Tournament awards for a total of six conference honors in her career. Spending a full 1,816 minutes on the pitch this season, VanDine has started 82 matches over her four years and been a three year captain for the Bulldogs.

Like VanDine, this is the first time Nizzoli, now a three-time All-WAC recipient, earned first-team honors in her career. This season, she tied a program record for total assists in a single season (9) and leads the WAC in assists and assists per game. Nizzoli is currently ranked fifth all-time in career assists (15) and is 10th on the career shots list (107).

Hancock earned her first All-WAC honor after having a breakout season that included career-highs in goals (11), points (25), shots (63), shots on goal (36) and game winning goals (3). She also recorded her first collegiate hat trick (Oct. 2) at CSU Bakersfield and set the programs single-season record for shots on goal. The junior forward is currently ninth all-time in career shots (113) and is one goal away from breaking onto the top 10 all-time career goal scorers list. She was recognized as WAC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 24 after scoring three goals in two conference matches.

Lindstrom, one of the cornerstones of the Bulldogs defense, has spent 90 minutes or more on the pitch in 17 of the team's 19 matches. She has helped Fresno State pick up nine shutouts this season. This is her third conference honor. She was named offensive player of the week (Sept. 26) this year and was named to the 2010 WAC All-Tournament team along with VanDine.

Gonzalez was named to the second-team for the second time in her career, the first being back in 2009. She started a career-high 19 matches and tied a career-high in shots on goal (15) en route to the best shot on goal percentage of her career (.566).

Dodd, the current WAC Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 31), caps off her career with her first All-WAC honor. She set career-highs in points (10) and assists (4) this season. Dodd has scored three points twice this year, the last at Nevada where she assisted the game-tying goal and then scored the gamewinner herself four minutes later.

Also honored at the banquet were the student-athletes who earned WAC Player of the Week honors throughout the course of the season. Fresno State set a program record by earning recognition seven times from the conference. Other recipients of the weekly honors this season included sophomores Kayla Kret (Sept. 26) and Morgan Castain (Sept. 6), along with freshman Katie DeVault, who was defensive player of the week twice (Aug. 30 and Sept. 19).

Visit WACSports.com for a complete list of the night's award recipients.

Fresno State (10-4-5) enjoys a first round bye in the WAC tournament this weekend (Nov. 3, 4 and 6). As the second seed, they will face the winner of Hawai'i and New Mexico State on Friday, Nov. 4 at 2:30 p.m. on the Soccer and Lacrosse Field.

"We Are Your Team!" The 2011 Western Athletic Conference Soccer Tournament is upon us and the Bulldogs are hosting. The new Fresno State Soccer and Lacrosse Field is home to the 16th annual WAC Tournament Nov. 3-4, & 6. Be there to witness the Bulldogs defend their 2010 WAC title at home. Tournament information and more is available on gobulldogs.com. You can stay connected with Fresno State Athletics on Facebook (fresnostateathletics) and Twitter (@FSAthletics).

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