William and Mary senior Taylor Hodge (Louisville, Ky.) was named the Colonial Athletic Association's Scholar-Athlete of the Year for field hockey on Wednesday, just the latest in a long line of accolades the dynamic striker has collected this fall.  The Scholar-Athlete of the Year program is beginning its 12th year, and is voted on by the league's sports information offices in each of the 21 championship sports.

Previously this month, Hodge has been selected to Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest and most prestigious honor society, as well as earning first-team All-CAA and second-team all-state honors.  She helped the Tribe to an 8-11 record and a spot in the conference tournament semifinals.  Hodge led the team with 10 goals, the most for a W&M player since 2004, and also added in two assists and a defensive save in her final campaign.  Her goals included the game-winner against Towson, as well as both goals in the 2-1 overtime upset of No. 18 American, and Hodge's defensive save helped preserve the 2-1 upset of No. 5 Virginia.  In the final regular-season contest at Busch Field Hodge took 13 shots, second-most ever in school history, and scored the tying goal that allowed W&M to beat Hofstra in double-overtime.  Hodge was honored as part of the NFHCA All-Academic team every season, as well as earning the W&M Provost's Award (cumulative GPA over 3.5) each of the past three years.  A kinesiology and health sciences major with a pre-med concentration, Hodge will be attending medical school next year at the University of Louisville with a goal of becoming a surgeon.

Along with Hodge, other Scholar-Athletes were announced in volleyball, men's and women's soccer, and men's and women's cross country.  The Tribe also had sophomore Emily Stites (Wyoming, Ohio) selected, in cross country, giving W&M 50 honorees in the 11 and one-third years of the program, the most in the league.  The next closest school is Hofstra, with 33 Scholar-Athletes.  Both Hodge and Stites now advance to the overall Femal Scholar-Athlete of the Year ballot, which will include the winners from every CAA women's sport, and voted on in June.