Video: Aeri Williams Interview
D2CCA All-Southeast Region Release
GAFFNEY, S.C. – A duo of Carson-Newman women's soccer defenders were named to the D2CCA Southeast All-Region on Wednesday afternoon following the voting from the region's Sports Information Directors.
Senior Averi Williams earned first-team plaudits for the first time in her career after receiving second-team honors the past two seasons following a transition from the midfield position.
"I probably wouldn't believe it if you told me I would've gotten this award three years ago," Williams said. "I was offensive minded then so it was hard to transition into defense but Helen Seed and Simon Duffy taught me a lot. Just being able to adapt was difficult but I am glad I did because it obviously paid off."
Williams was an integral part of C-N's fourth-straight South Atlantic Conference regular-season championship as she started in all 20 games for the Eagles recording two goals and an assist.
The Powell, Tenn. native turned in over 7100 minutes played in her time at Mossy Creek, including every game over the past two seasons. She's missed a total of two games over her four-year career. The minutes played total currently sit as the leader in program history dating back to 2002.
Williams was named the South Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Year following the campaign, which included first-team All-SAC honors.
Her linemate Alex Brandan received her first-career All-Region honor from the D2CCA as the senior defender was penned in on the second-team.
The Knoxville, Tenn. native was also a huge part of C-N's dominant defense that held opponents to single digits shots in 13 of the team's 20 games including seven straight from Sept. 22 to Oct. 20.
"Thrilled for the two seniors to get some recognition even though the season ended earlier than we wanted," Coach Simon Duffy said. "They're lead by example athletes and they have really set the tone for what we want our players to be in the program and that includes everything off the field as well. They will be two difficult pieces to replace as there probably won't be many players like them to come through C-N."
Brandan has played 80 games as an Eagles accumulating over 6500 minutes played, a top-five mark in the history of the program. In her final season, she recorded one goal and three assists. She was also named to a first-team All-SAC member.
"I'm proud of Alex," Williams said. "We've been playing together for 10 years now and we kind of read each other's minds and I'm glad she got those honors."
With the selection to the first-team, Williams will be put into the pool of players who will move on to be voted D2CAA All-America in the coming weeks.
-CN-