3 Women's Soccer Players Earn USA South Awards

Erin Cembrale and Doren Staley named to Second Team West Division. Faithe Karponay named to All-Sportsmanship Team.

USA South 2021 Women's Soccer Awards Announced

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The USA South Athletic Conference has announced its 2021 All-Conference awards for women's soccer. Individually, Covenant's Kailey Burrell was named Player of the Year and Averett's Celia de Diego earned Rookie of the Year while the Piedmont duo of Laila Allen and Timmy McCormack collected Goalkeeper of the Year and Coach of the Year accolades, respectively. Additionally, the USA South recognized an All-Sportsmanship Team, consisting of one member from each competing school who their coach felt displayed the best sportsmanship this season.

All awards are voted on by the women's soccer coach at each institution. The divisional team voting is completed only by those coaches in the particular division. The all-conference and individual award voting is completed by all coaches.

Burrell, a senior forward from Trenton, Georgia, becomes the first Covenant women's soccer student-athlete to be named USA South Player of the Year. Burrell currently leads the Conference in scoring with 39 points on a USA South-best 18 goals to go along with three assists. Additionally, Burrell has scored a USA South-high seven game-winning goals. Against USA South competition-only, Burrell again led the pack with League-highs of 21 points, ten goals, and five game-winning scores. For her efforts this season, Burrell was named a First Team All-Conference and First Team West Division forward. This is the fourth consecutive season Burrell has found herself on the USA South All-Conference team. Finally, Burrell was selected as USA South Player of the Week once this fall.

de Diego, a freshman forward from Valladolid, Spain, becomes the first Averett women's soccer student-athlete to be named USA South Rookie of the Year. de Diego currently leads all rookies with 15 goals, which is good for second-best in the entire Conference. Her 31 total points place her third in the League as de Diego began her collegiate career by scoring a goal in her first 12 games. In League contests-only, de Diego led all rookies with 16 points and eight goals. In addition to her individual accolades, de Diego earned First Team All-Conference and First Team East Division honors at the forward position while also being named USA South Rookie of the Week three times.

Allen, a freshman from Marietta, Georgia, becomes the first Piedmont women's soccer student-athlete to be named USA South Goalkeeper of the Year. She currently has posted a 9-2-1 record this season while playing 1,018 minutes in goal for the Lions. Allen has compiled a 0.88 goals-against-average along and a .839 save percentage with four shutouts. Against Conference competition, Allen dropped her first decision before rebounding with seven consecutive wins to compile a 7-1-0 record with three shutouts. For her efforts, Allen was named the First Team All-Conference and First Team West Division goalkeeper. Finally, Allen collected USA South Defender of the Week and Rookie of the Week accolades once this season.

McCormack, in his fifth year as Piedmont's head coach, earns his first USA South Coach of the Year honor. This season, he led his team to the program's third USA South regular season title and first since 2017 as the Lions compiled a 7-1-0 Conference record. This fall marks the fourth year that a McCormack-coached squad has dropped one or less Conference contests. Overall, the Lions boast an 11-4-3 mark and head into the USA South Women's Soccer Tournament as the West Division's top seed looking to capture the title for the fifth time, not counting last season's COVID-altered Western Division crown.

The 2021 USA South Women's Soccer All-Conference Team: