Nov. 2, 2005
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Senior Alexis Solovij (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and freshman Erika Sutton (Arvada, Colo.) were named all-Mountain West Conference, announced at the annual league banquet Tuesday night in Las Vegas, Nev. Solovij was selected to the first team, while Sutton garnered second-team accolades.
The 2004 MWC Defender of the Year, Solovij became just the second Aztec to earn first-team honors in three consecutive years, joining Kim Castellanos (2000-02). Solovij has started 57 consecutive matches for SDSU and is the only Aztec to start all 20 matches this season. She has led a defense that has posted seven shutouts in 2005, including two at the UC Irvine Nike/Holiday Invitational on Sept. 9-11. For her efforts at UC Irvine, Solovij was named the Defensive Most Valuable Player of the tournament and, on Sept. 13, received national recognition when she was selected to the Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week.
A forward, Sutton leads the MWC with nine assists and 0.47 assists per game. She is also ranked sixth in points per game (0.89) and shots per game (2.68). Sutton's 17 points off four goals and nine assists are tops on the team, and she also leads the squad in shots (51) and shots on goal (17). Sutton was named Offensive Most Valuable Player at the UC Irvine Nike/Holiday Invitational for her two-goal, one-assist performance over the two-game tournament. She is the first freshman to earn all-MWC honors since 2000 (Castellanos).
Sixth-seeded SDSU will play No. 17 and third-seeded BYU at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Peter Johann Memorial Field on the campus of UNLV in Las Vegas, Nev.