Wittenberg University’s Field Hockey Standouts Earn 2015 All-Great Lakes Region Honors

Springfield, Ohio – Wittenberg University field hockey standouts Paige Vanerstrom (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and Zara Tickner (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) have earned 2015 All-Great Lakes Region first-team honors and Michelle Murray (Pittsburgh Pa./North Alleghany) earned a second-team selection from the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA). 

Vanerstrom, a senior midfielder, earned her second first-team All-Region distinction after receiving the same honor in 2014, as well as a second-team award in 2013. Tickner, a sophomore defender, received first-team All-Region honors after being selected to the second team in 2014. Both student-athletes will now be considered for NFHCA All-America honors to be announced, Dec. 7.

Vanerstrom ranked second on the team in scoring, tallying 11 goals and six assists for a total of 28 points during the 2015 season. Three of her goals were credited as game winners. For her career, Vanerstrom finished with 26 goals and 14 assists for 66 total points.  She picked up first-team All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) in 2015 for the second season in a row.

Upon the completion of the season, Vanerstrom was selected to participate in the prestigious NFHCA Division III Senior Game on Nov. 21, on the campus of Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va. She was one of 60 players chosen to participate in the 2015 game, including just three student-athletes representing NCAC schools.

Tickner was a force to be reckoned with at the defensive end, starting all 19 games for the Tigers. She contributed two defensive saves and earned second-team All-NCAC honors in 2015, following up an All-NCAC Honorable Mention selection in 2014.

She will showcase her skills at the Pan American Maccabi Games in Santiago, Chile, from Dec. 26-Jan. 5. Maccabi USA is a not-for-profit organization that "endeavors, through sports, to perpetuate and preserve the American Jewish community by encouraging Jewish pride, strengthening Jewish bonds and by creating a heightened awareness of Israel and Jewish identity," according to the organization's mission statement. The upcoming event in Chile is the 13^th Pan American Maccabi Games. 

Murray, a defender, tallied one assist and one defensive save as a mainstay for the Tigers defense in 2015. The junior second-team All-NCAC selection started 18 games in 2015 after earning Honorable Mention All-NCAC honors in 2014.

Wittenberg posted records of 8-11 overall and 8-6 in the NCAC in 2015, good for fourth place in the final regular-season standings. The Tigers placed a total of five players on the All-NCAC Honor Roll after the season.

Written By: Kuris Duggan