April 27, 2007
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.-- Arizona State golfer Anna Nordqvist was named both Pac-10 Player and Freshman of the Year, according to an announcement by the conference office on Friday. The Pac-10 also officially announced that ASU women's golf coach Melissa Luellen has been named Pac-10 Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. Each of the awards was decided on by a vote of the league's coaches.
Nordqvist, a freshman from Eskilstuna, Sweden, had an amazing freshman campaign and is currently the No. 2 ranked player in the nation by Golfweek. In the eight tournaments she has played this season, Nordqvist has recorded one first-place finish, four second-place finishes and one fourth-place finish. Upon capturing her first tournament victory at the 2007 PING/ASU Invitational, where she shot a tournament-record-low 10-under 206 for the three-round event, she was named Player of the Week by Golfweek. Nordqvist finished in second place at the Pac-10 Championship, finishing the regular season with a stroke average of 71.9 in 24 rounds, including eight rounds under 70. Nordqvist is the second ASU student-athlete to earn Pac-10 Player of the Year honors and the third Sun Devil to earn Pac-10 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year.
Luellen, in her fifth year as head coach at ASU, became the fourth coach to earn Pac-10 Women's Golf Coach of the Year honors in back-to-back years after winning the award last year. Arizona State is currently the top-ranked team in the nation by Golfweek by virtue of winning five of the 10 tournaments it entered this year, including the last four in succession, with two other runner-up finishes. The Sun Devils' team victories came in the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, the "Mo"morial Invitational, the PING/ASU Invitational, the Wildcat Invitational and the Pac-10 Championship. Last season Luellen guided the Sun Devils to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, ASU's first top-five showing since 1999.