Muhlenberg senior Courtney Tapkas was named the Outstanding Athlete for lacrosse at the annual Lehigh Valley Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (LVAIAW) luncheon.

Tapkas was selected from all players at the five schools that sponsor women’s lacrosse (Cedar Crest, Lafayette, Lehigh, Moravian and Muhlenberg) in the LVAIAW. She joins Katie Kenny (1999) as the only Muhlenberg lacrosse players to win the award.

Tapkas scored 51 goals in 2006 to end her career second on the Centennial Conference all-time list with 218 goals. She also finished 10th on the CC points list with 262 for her career.

A two-time selection to the All-CC first team, Tapkas holds the school records for points in a career and season (84), goals in a career, season (73) and game (nine) and hat tricks in a career (37) and season (12). She also helped the team set numerous school records, including most wins in a season (10) in 2006.

The latter honor means Schmidt will have an opportunity to keep playing. For the second year in a row, she has received a bid to NCAA Division III Individual Championships, which are scheduled for May 20-22 at UC Santa Cruz.

One of 32 players selected for the national tournament, Schmidt is a perfect 13-0 in singles play this spring and has yet to drop a set. Last year, she advanced to the second round of the tournament to earn All-America honors.

Schmidt has defeated four of the players in the NCAA field (one last year and three this year), including a Carnegie Mellon competitor who won the ITA national championship in the fall.

For the second year in a row, Schmidt was named Centennial Conference player of the year. She is the third women’s tennis player in CC history to repeat as player of the year and the first female athlete at Muhlenberg in any sport to win the top conference honor more than once.

Schmidt also was named to the All-CC first team for both singles and doubles (with freshman Carly Rotfeld) for the third year in a row. Schmidt earned a total of seven first-team All-CC honors in her tennis career, missing out only as a singles player in 2003. Her four doubles honors came with four different partners.

Schmidt had a career singles record of 37-1 in CC dual matches, losing only to a Washington player in her second match as a freshman. In the next 36 matches, she dropped only two sets and won by 6-0, 6-0 shutout 12 times.

Additionally, Schmidt was named Outstanding Athlete for tennis and Muhlenberg’s Outstanding Athlete at the annual LVAIAW luncheon. She won the tennis award for the second year in a row.

Schmidt will head to California with a career singles record of 62-6. Her overall career mark is 111-25.