SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Six different teams won a major award as the West Coast Conference announced its 2024 Women’s Soccer All-Conference awards on Wednesday. All six individual awards and the All-WCC teams were voted on solely by the Conference’s 11 coaches.
The All-WCC First Team is comprised of a specific position format of three forwards three midfielders three defenders, one goalkeeper and one "wildcard" spot given to the student-athlete remaining with the most votes regardless of position.
There was a three-way tie in voting for the WCC Midfielder of the Year between Karina Gonzalez (Pepperdine), Kat Jordan (Santa Clara) and Chelsea Le (Gonzaga).
After a 14-point improvement from 2023 to 2024, LMU head coach Chris Chamides was named the WCC Coach of the Year. The Lions concluded the 2024 season with 17 points and an overall record of 11-5-2. The Lions were in contention to claim a share of the WCC title in the final week of the regular season, as well. Chamides becomes the first LMU head coach to win this award since Michelle Myers in 2015.
For the second straight year, Pepperdine's Tori Waldeck was named the WCC Offensive Player of the Year. She was also named to the all-conference first team for the second straight year and third time overall. In WCC matches, Waldeck led the league in goals (8) and points (17). The last time a WCC player repeated as the Conference's Player of the Year was BYU's Mikayla Colohan who three-peated from 2019-21. Waldeck was joined on the list of major award winners by her teammate Karina Gonzalez, one of three players to win WCC Midfielder of the Year. Gonzalez started all 20 games, recording two assists. After winning a share of the WCC championship for the fifth time in program history, Pepperdine will make its 14th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, hosting California on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Amaya Bautista of Oregon State won WCC Defender of the Year. She ranked third among field players with 1,574 minutes played. Bautista started and played all 90 minutes in back-to-back shutout victories over Saint Mary's and San Francisco. She played every minute during Conference play, helping the Beavers tie for the second-best defense in the WCC, allowing 10 goals in 10 games.
For the second straight year, Bre Norris of Portland was tabbed the WCC's Goalkeeper of the Year. Norris led the WCC in saves with 79, and in WCC matches, her 46 saves ranked second in the league. Her goals-against average of .909 also ranked second among WCC goalkeepers. In addition, Norris was named to the All-WCC First Team. The last time a goalkeeper repeated as WCC Goalkeeper of the Year was Brielle Preece of Pepperdine in 2017 and 2018. This is the third time a goalkeeper was won the award in back-to-back seasons since the award began in 2012 (Erica Owens, BYU, 2012-13).
Santa Clara's Manaka Hayashi won WCC Freshman of the Year. Hayashi started seven games on the year after not playing during non-conference play. She recorded seven shots during the campaign. Her efforts helped the Broncos allow just six goals in league games, a conference best. SCU's 23 goals scored in WCC matches ranked third in the league. She was joined on the list of major award winners by her teammate Kat jordan, one of three players to win WCC Midfielder of the Year. Jordan finished the campaign with 11 points (four goals and three assists). Two of her goals were game-winning goals.
The third WCC player to earn a share of Midfielder of the Year was Gonzaga's Chelse Le, who also picked up Conference second-team honors. Le's contributions helped the Bulldogs tie for first in the WCC with 25 goals scored in league play. Gonzaga finished in third place in the WCC standings with 19 points. Le earned 14 points on the year (6 goals and 2 assists). Three of her goals were game-winning goals.
Santa Clara led the way with five all-conference first-team selections (Colby Barnett, Marisa Bubnis, Hayashi, Sally Menti and Kennedy Schoennauer), while Portland (Norris, Katana Norman), and Washington State (Grayson Lynch and Reese Tappan) sported two players on the first team. Kylie Dobbs of LMU and Waldeck also received first-team recognition. In addition to Waldeck and Norris, Menti garnered all-conference first-team accolades for the second straight season. Bubnis earned the honor for the second time overall.
2024 WCC Women's Soccer Award Winners
WCC COACH OF THE YEAR |
Chris Chamides |
LMU |
WCC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR |
Tori Waldeck |
Pepperdine |
Gr. |
WCC DEFENSIVE OF THE YEAR |
Amaya Bautista |
Oregon State |
Sr. |
WCC MIDFIELDERS OF THE YEAR |
Karina Gonzalez |
Pepperdine |
Jr. |
Kat Jordan |
Santa Clara |
Gr. |
Chelsea Le |
Gonzaga |
Sr. |
WCC GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR |
Bre Norris |
Portland |
Sr. |
WCC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR |
Manaka Hayashi |
Santa Clara |
M |
ALL-WCC FIRST TEAM
NAME |
SCHOOL |
POSITION |
YEAR |
Colby Barnett |
Santa Clara |
M |
Sr. |
Marisa Bubnis |
Santa Clara |
D |
Sr. |
Kylie Dobbs |
LMU |
F |
Sr. |
Manaka Hayashi |
Santa Clara |
M |
Fr. |
Grayson Lynch |
Washington State |
F |
Sr. |
Sally Menti |
Santa Clara |
M |
Sr. |
Katana Norman |
Portland |
D |
Jr. |
Bre Norris |
Portland |
GK |
Sr. |
Kennedy Schoennauer |
Santa Clara |
F |
So. |
Reese Tappan |
Washington State |
D |
Sr. |
Tori Waldeck |
Pepperdine |
F |
Gr. |
ALL-WCC SECOND TEAM
NAME |
SCHOOL |
POSITION |
YEAR |
Paige Alexander |
Gonzaga |
F |
Sr. |
Nadia Cooper |
Washington State |
GK |
Sr. |
Marissa Garcia |
Gonzaga |
F |
Sr. |
Karina Gonzalez |
Pepperdine |
M |
Jr. |
Jennessa Groves |
LMU |
F |
Sr. |
Chelsea Le |
Gonzaga |
M |
Sr. |
McKenna Martinez |
Oregon State |
F |
Sr. |
Sydney Middaugh |
Saint Mary's |
F |
So. |
Tessa Salvestrin |
Saint Mary's |
F |
Jr. |
Cally Togiai |
Portland |
F |
Sr. |
Tatum Wynalda |
Pepperdine |
F |
Jr. |
ALL-WCC FRESHMAN TEAM
NAME |
SCHOOL |
POSITION |
Ella Callanan |
San Diego |
D |
Kendall Campbell |
Washington State |
F |
Manaka Hayashi |
Santa Clara |
M |
Maci Land |
LMU |
M |
Jillian McBride |
Portland |
F |
Jillian Medvecky |
Pepperdine |
GK |
Elle Quinn |
Pepperdine |
M |
Ariana Salvador |
Pepperdine |
F |
Amelia Severn |
Gonzaga |
M |
Ava Weiland |
Santa Clara |
D |
Hayden Wilson |
Oregon State |
D |
ALL-WCC HONORABLE MENTION
NAME |
SCHOOL |
Juju Barker |
Oregon State |
Amaya Bautista |
Oregon State |
Carly Carraher |
Oregon State |
Lindsey Chau |
San Francisco |
Megan Edelman |
Pepperdine |
Khalia Gathright |
Saint Mary's |
Kat Jordan |
Santa Clara |
Reagan Kotschau |
Washington State |
Tabitha LaParl |
Pepperdine |
Peyton Leonard |
Pepperdine |
Lucy Mitchell |
Santa Clara |
Kyra Murphy |
Pepperdine |
Alexis Pashales |
Pacific |
Tori Powell |
Santa Clara |
Megan Rucker |
LMU |
Mya Sanchez |
Oregon State |
Megan Santa Cruz |
Washington State |
Savannah Schwarze |
Saint Mary's |
Amelia Severn |
Gonzaga |
Marissa Vasquez |
Santa Clara |
Emelia Warta |
Gonzaga |
Genevieve Watkins |
LMU |
Addie Whitehouse |
Santa Clara |