ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell senior Marisa Siergiej has been named the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, as was announced this morning by the conference office. She was also a unanimous first-team selection for the second year in a row and was joined on the top squad by junior Katy Weeks, while sophomore Krysten Mayers was named to the second-team.
 
One of the most dominant players in the history of the program, Siergiej becomes the first-ever Cornell field hockey player to earn a Player of the Year honor, and the first to take home a major Ivy League award since Hannah Balleza was named co-Rookie of the Year in 2010. Siergiej brings Cornell's total Ivy award winners to three, joining Balleza and 1994 Rookie of the Year, Cari Hills.
 
Siergiej becomes the 42nd player in conference history to earn three first-team All-Ivy honors, but is just the third player in the history of the Cornell field hockey program to do so, joining Amy Wright (1991-92) and Catie DeStio (2008-10) in that exclusive company.
 
A permanent fixture in the Big Red backfield since her arrival on East Hill, Siergiej has started 66-of-67 career games and helped Cornell to field some of the best defenses in program history. This year, the unit allowed opponents just 10.5 shots per game and a mere 4.6 penalty corner opportunities per contest. A dominant presence on the Big Red's offensive penalty corner unit, Siergiej also scored 10 times this season, reaching double-digit goals for the third consecutive year.
 
Weeks earns her first All-Ivy first team honor, after consecutive second-team selections over her first two seasons. The junior midfielder finished the 2015 season with career highs in both points (21) and goals (8), while adding five assists. Of her eight goals, three were game-winners, one was the Big Red's only score vs. No. 10 Albany, and one came in the final moments of Cornell's game vs. Dartmouth to send the contest to overtime.
 
Mayers earns her second Ivy League accolade with a second-team selection after being named honorable mention a year ago. After an outstanding rookie campaign, Mayers was even better as a sophomore, tying the school record with 14 goals on the season. She also added three assists for a career-high 31 points. Mayers currently ranks 14th in the nation in goals per game (0.82) and is 25th overall in points per game (1.82).She also posted three game-winning goals on the season, including a late goal vs. Harvard to hand Cornell a 1-0 win over the Crimson.
 
2015 FIELD HOCKEY ALL-IVY
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Maddie Copeland, Princeton (Sr., F – Cranbury, N.J.)
 
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Marisa Siergiej, Cornell (Sr., D – Harrison City, Pa.)
 
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Sophia Tornetta, Princeton (Fr., M – Plymouth Meeting, Pa.)
 
COACH OF THE YEAR
Kristen Holmes-Winn, Princeton
  
FIRST-TEAM ALL-IVY
*Maddie Copeland, Princeton (Sr., F – Cranbury, N.J.)
Alexa Hoover, Penn (So., F – Collegeville, Pa.)
Elizabeth Jacobson, Harvard (Sr., F – Branchburg, N.J.)
Eliza Becker, Dartmouth (Sr., M – Lawrenceville, N.J.)
*Christina Freibott, Columbia (Sr., M – Wilmington, Del.)
Sophia Tornetta, Princeton (Fr., M – Plymouth Meeting, Pa.)
Katy Weeks, Cornell (Jr., M – Kenilworth, Ill.)
Maeve Doherty, Columbia (So., D – Millersville, Md.)
*Marisa Siergiej, Cornell (Sr., D – Harrison City, Pa.)
Elise Wong, Princeton (Fr., D – Lake Forest, Ill.)
*Emilie Katz, Yale (Jr., GK – Newton, Mass.)
 
SECOND-TEAM ALL-IVY^
Marissa Balleza, Harvard (Jr., F – Severna Park, Md.)
Elizabeth Hitti, Penn (Sr., F – Ashland, Mass.)
Rebecca Hu, Dartmouth (Sr., F – Skillman, N.J.)
Krysten Mayers, Cornell (So., F – Parsippany, N.J.)
Ryan McCarthy, Princeton (So., F – Madison, N.J.)
Carol Middough, Yale (So., F – Oceanport, N.J.)
Katie Ruesterholz, Columbia (Jr., F – New York)
Teresa Benvenuti, Princeton (Sr., M – Morristown, N.J.)
Cat Caro, Princeton (Jr., M – Bridgewater, N.J.)
Alexis Miller, Brown (Sr., M – Caldwell, N.J.)
Elise Tilton, Penn (Jr., M – Bangor, Maine)
Katarina Angus, Brown (Jr., D – West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
Kyla Cordrey, Harvard (Jr., D – Summit, N.J.)
Brooke Van Valkenburg, Dartmouth (Sr., D – Garden City, N.Y.)
Kimberly Pianucci, Columbia (Sr., GK – Glen Gardner, N.J.)
 
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-IVY
Hannah Rogers, Brown (Sr., F – Los Altos, Calif.)
Kathleen Young, Harvard (Fr., F – Essex Junction, Vt.)
Selena Garzio, Penn (Fr., M – Hazelton, Pa.)
Nicole Wells, Yale (Jr., M – Bryn Mawr, Pa.)
Anya Gersoff, Princeton (Sr., GK – Greenwood Village, Colo.)
Issy Davies, Harvard (Sr., GK – Worcester, England)
 
*-unanimous selection
^-Due to ties in the voting, the All-Ivy second team was expanded from 11