Tess Brenneman, a Kalispell native and senior on the University of Montana soccer team, was named first team all-Big Sky Conference.
The league’s coaches voted on the top players in the conference and the results were announced Nov. 1.
Brenneman, a former all-state standout at Flathead High School, will start her 69th consecutive match today, when the Grizzlies play Eastern Washington in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament in Cheney, Washington.
This is Brenneman’s second first team all-conference honor.
Brenneman redshirted in 2012 and played outside back her first two years. The last two seasons, she has started at center back..
“I thought Tess had a very good year. As the season went on, I thought she got more and more steady as the leader of our defense,” said UM head coach Mark Plakorus, whose team has posted shutouts in four of its last six matches.
“She’s another player who every year has gotten better and better. She’s done a lot of work on her own to take that next step as a player and develop into a very good defender, so she is definitely deserving of her recognition.”
Montana has four all-conference selections, including Kailey Norman, who was voted Goalkeeper of the Year by the league’s coaches and named first-team All-Big Sky. Norman was joined on the first team by Brenneman. Junior outside back Chanelle Pederson was voted second team, as was sophomore Hallie Widner, who can play both forward and midfielder.
Eastern Washington junior forward Chloe Williams repeated as the league’s Offensive Player of the Year after scoring a conference-high 14 goals. Regular-season champion Idaho, the top seed at this week’s tournament, led the league with six All-Big Sky Conference selections. The Vandals had one first-team player and five on the second team.