Five Blue Devils Named To All-South Region Teams; Waagbo Garners Academic All-District

DURHAM, N.C. --- Five Duke women's lacrosse players were named to All-South Region teams, as announced today by the IWLCA. Picking up first team honors were junior attacker Caroline Cryer, sophomore midfielder Carolyn Davis, senior attacker Leigh Jester and senior attacker Kristen Waagbo. Senior midfielder Rachel Sanford was named to the All-South Region second team.

Candidates for All-Region were selected for their outstanding performance on the field of play. Duke's group of five is one of only two in the country that have all scored at least 34 goals or more each this season. All five All-Region recipients will now be eligible for IWLCA/US Lacrosse All-America teams, which will be announced on Tues., May 29. The IWLCA and US Lacrosse will honor the National All-America team members at an awards banquet on June 16, 2007, in Downingtown, Pa.

Waagbo added more hardware to her collection by being named to ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-District second team. She earned her degree in cultural anthropology with a certificate in markets and management studies. To be eligible for the award, candidates must have a 3.2 GPA or better and be a significant contributor to their team on the field. Duke is a part of District III, which encompasses the southern Atlantic states.

Cryer, a native of Cherry Creek, Colo., leads Duke with 67 goals this season. That is good for the best mark in the ACC and is tied for the third-best in the NCAA at 3.53 goals per game. Cryer is second in the conference and 14th in the nation in points per game with 4.42. Her 64 draw controls lead the Blue Devils in that category, and she is third in the ACC and 10th in the NCAA with her 3.37 draw controls per game. Cryer's five game-winning goals are tied for the ACC lead. She is one of only five players in the country with at least 50 goals and 50 draw controls this season. Cryer's 21-game goal streak is tops among players still in the tournament. She is also one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy and one of four finalists for the Honda Lacrosse Award, which are both given annually to the nation's top collegiate lacrosse player.

Davis has nipped the proverbial “sophomore slump” in the bud this season, performing like a seasoned veteran. The Skaneateles, N.Y., native has 34 goals and 14 assists this season for the Blue Devils. Davis has added a team-high 33 ground balls and 27 caused turnovers this season. Her 1.42 caused turnovers per game is fourth in the ACC. Davis was named to the All-ACC squad for the first time in her career in April.

Jester has continued her strong play this season. The attacker from Ridgewood, N.J., is third on the team in goals with 40 and second in assists with 27. Her assist total is the fourth-highest in school history. Jester's 1.42 assists per game is third in the ACC and tied for 30th in the NCAA. Jester was named to the All-ACC team for the second straight year and was on the watch list for the Tewaaraton Trophy earlier this season. She has moved into fourth place on Duke's career points list and is fifth on the all-time goals and assists lists.

Waagbo has had a career year for herself with the Blue Devils, and one of the best individual seasons in the program's history. She leads the ACC and is tied for 11th in the NCAA with 4.47 points per game, and also leads the ACC and is 10th in the NCAA with 2.21 assists per game. The native of Ellicott City, Md., broke her own record for assists in one season at Duke and now has 42. Waagbo also broke the all-time Duke assists' record in the second game of the season and now has 114. That total is third on the all-time ACC list and 14th all-time in the NCAA. Waagbo is second on Duke's career points list with 272 and third on the goals' list with 158. Besides having been a Tewaaraton Trophy nominee, Waagbo was named to the All-ACC and ACC-All-Tournament teams for the second year in a row last month.

Sanford, who hails from Greenwich, Conn., has given Duke another solid season on both sides of the ball. Sanford has found the back of the net 38 times this year and has added eight assists, 43 draw controls and 24 ground balls. She has a team-high 30 caused turnovers which is tied for the ACC-best mark of 1.58 per game. That clip is also tied for 26th in the NCAA. Sanford's five game-winning goals are also tied with Cryer for the ACC lead. On March 12, Sanford was the ACC Player of the Week.

The No. 2 seed Duke Blue Devils (16-3) will take on the No. 3 seed Virginia Cavaliers (18-3) in a national semifinal showdown between the two ACC foes. The game will start at approximately 8:30 p.m. (45 minutes after the conclusion of the game between No. 1 seed Northwestern vs. No. 4 seed Pennsylvania), on Friday at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa. If Duke is able to defeat the Cavaliers, it will play in the national championship match on Sunday at 7 p.m., on CSTV. Ticket information can be found on the official 2007 Women's Lacrosse Championship website, which is www.drawphiladelphia.com.

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