ATLANTA – Marian University field hockey was well represented on the All-SAA lists with five student-athletes earning recognition.
Sophomore Allyson Nichols (Little Falls, N.Y.) had another dominating season offensively to earn her second All-SAA First Team award. Nichols was one of two student-athletes in the SAA with double-digit scores recording 14 goals. She also had four assists to finish second in the conference with 32 total points. Nichols went on to earn a pair of SAA Offensive Player of the Week awards during the season giving her five such awards for her career. She had three multi-goal games on the campaign with a single-game Marian record coming against CUW where she had four goals with two assists for 10 total points. Nichols had an especially strong end to the season scoring six goals with an assist over the final four games of the year.
Sophomore Eva Houtackers (Maarn, Netherlands) earns her second all-conference award with the promotion to first team this season. Houtackers was a valuable asset for Marian in the midfield finishing the season with seven goals and an SAA leading seven assists for 21 total points, fourth in the conference. She had a hand in multiple goals in four games this season with a season-best six points coming at home against Sewanee where she had two goals and two assists. Houtackers also posted a multi-goal game at Concordia Wisconsin in a non-conference match-up and added an assist for five points.
Sophomore Jikke Biemans (Rijen, Netherlands) earns her second straight All-SAA award being named to the second team. Biemans was once again one of the top scorers in the SAA finishing third in the SAA with her 25 points. She would score nine goals, fourth in the SAA, to go with an SAA leading seven assists. The Marian captain had at least one point in all but four games with a pair of multi-goal efforts. She also had a hand in multiple goals four times on the campaign. Her best game came in the season opener against Oberlin where she had two goals to go with an assist for five points. Biemans also had a four-point game against CUW in SAA play at home scoring a goal with two assists. She closed out the regular season with 16 points over the final seven games.
Sophomore Indi Rameckers (Amsterdam, Netherlands) earns All-SAA Second Team honors for a second straight season. Rameckers finished the season with five goals and two assists for 12 total points. She also had a major impact on a Sabre defense that ranked second in the SAA with a 1.53 goals against average. She had a strong end to the regular season scoring three goals with an assist over the final four games. Rameckers had a hand in at least one goal over that span.
Sophomore Merel Nagelkerke (Oudenbosch, Netherlands) earns all-conference recognition for the first time in her career being named to the second team. Nagelkerke bested her offensive output from last season scoring three goals with four assists for 10 total points. She especially gave Sewanee nightmares recording a multi-goal effort at Sewanee before assisting a pair of goals at home against the Tigers. Nagelkerke also made an impact on the defensive end helping lead the Sabre defense to a 1.53 goals against average, second in the SAA. She was the only Sabre this season to record multiple defensive saves.
The full release and all-conference lists from the SAA can be found at https://saa-sports.com/sports/fhockey
