Muhlenberg senior Kristen Bruschi won two awards at yesterday’s Lehigh Valley Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (LVAIAW) luncheon.

Bruschi was named Muhlenberg’s outstanding senior female athlete and was chosen as the top field hockey player in the LVAIAW in voting conducted by area coaches at Cedar Crest, DeSales, Kutztown, Lafayette, Lehigh, Moravian and Muhlenberg.

Bruschi finished her field hockey career as Muhlenberg’s all-time leader and ranked second in Centennial Conference history with 59 goals and 135 points. A three-time All-CC selection, she also set the school record for career assists (17).

Bruschi scored 36 points in 2004, earning a spot on the All-South Region first team and the womensfieldhockey.com All-America third team. She represented Muhlenberg at the Division III North/South Senior All-Star Game at Westfield State on Nov. 20.

The past three seasons, Bruschi also has been one of the top players on the Muhlenberg women’s golf team. She finished in the top 10 at the CC Championships in both 2003 and 2004.

Schmidt will compete in the 32-player individual tournament, to be held May 21-23 at Stowe Stadium in Kalamazoo, Mich. She is the first player in Muhlenberg women’s tennis history to receive a bid to the national championships. Click on the logo for the official tournament site.

Schmidt also picked up a pair of player-of-the-year awards, getting nods from the Centennial Conference and the Lehigh Valley Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. The Mules’ first-ever CC player of the year in women’s tennis, she was a first-team All-CC selection in singles for the second year in a row and in doubles (with partner Ashley Reed) for the third consecutive year.

Schmidt will enter the NCAAs with a combined season record of 35-3: 19-1 in singles and 16-2 in doubles. She was the first Muhlenberg player ever

Schmidt’s three All-CC selections for doubles have come with three different partners.

to complete a dual-meet season undefeated in singles play. Her lone singles loss came in the championship match of the CC Championships, to a Swarthmore player who also was invited to the NCAAs.

The doubles team of Schmidt and Reed achieved another Mule first by going undefeated (13-0) in dual matches. They reached the semifinals of the CC Championships.

Schmidt holds school dual-match records for career singles wins (40), consecutive singles wins (25), season combined wins (29), season singles wins (15) and season doubles wins (14). Including tournaments, she has an overall career record of 90-16.

Muhlenberg, which tied a school record with 12 wins, narrowly missed earning a team berth to the NCAA Championships. The Mules were ranked eighth in the Atlantic South region, and the top seven were taken. Included in that group are two squads (Swarthmore and Mary Washington) that narrowly defeated Muhlenberg, 5-4.

Women’s tennis becomes the 14th sport in which Muhlenberg has sent a team or an individual to the NCAA Championships. Mules have also gone in women’s basketball, men’s basketball, men’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s golf, women’s soccer, men’s soccer, softball, men’s indoor track, women’s outdoor track, men’s outdoor track and wrestling.