Nov. 7, 2007

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Teammates Mandi Bäck and Niki Reed of the Dayton women's soccer team have been named the Atlantic 10 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, in voting conducted by the league's head coaches on Wednesday. Bäck and Reed were also first team all-conference selections.

In addition to the player of the year awards, UD also saw three other players earn conference honors. Colleen Gibson was named first team all-conference, Kelly Blumenschein made the all-rookie Team, and Amanda Gallow earned academic all-conference honors for the second year in a row.

Bäck becomes the third player in Dayton history to earn A-10 Offensive Player of the Year honors after leading the Flyers' in scoring for the second straight year. She had 14 goals and 30 points. She also leads the team and the Conference in shots (91) and game-winners (5), with four of her game-winning tallies coming in A-10 play. The North Olmsted, Ohio native is currently 18th in the nation in goals per game with a .737 average.

Goalkeeper Niki Reed, the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year, has recorded eight shutouts in 19 games this season, which places her second in the conference. Her 14 career shutouts put her in third place on the all-time shutout list at UD. Reed has a 0.81 goals against average for third in the conference and a save percentage of .833 which puts her in the sixth spot. The Fairfield, Ohio native is a two-time A-10 Player of the Week selection this season and has compiled a mark of 11-4-3, with four shutouts in league action.

Sophomore Colleen Gibson has made a big impact on the Flyer offense all season and was named to the A-10 First Team for her impressive league play. Gibson has tallied 15 shots, one goal, and two assists in conference play alone.

Freshman Kelly Blumenschein, named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team, has started 18 games for UD. In addition, the Beavercreek, Ohio native leads all freshmen this season with two goals, seven points, three assists and one game-winner.

Two-time Academic All-Atlantic 10 honoree Amanda Gallow garners the award once more. Gallow boasts a 3.91 GPA as a pre-physical therapy major and has posted two goals and one assist for Dayton so far this fall. Gallow was named to the 2007 CoSIDA Academic All-District Third Team on November 1.

The Flyers will face Saint Louis in an opening round match of the Atlantic 10 Championships on Thursday, November 8 at 8 p.m. ET. The game can be followed with Gametracker on www.DaytonFlyers.com.