Cardinals Place Seven on All-ACC Field Hockey Academic Team

The University of Louisville field hockey team placed a conference-leading seven student-athletes on the 2020-21 ACC Academic Team as announced by the league today.

Alli Bitting, Emilia Kaczmarczyk, Julie Kouijzer, Mercedes Pastor, Aimee Plumb, Meghan Schneider and Charlie van Oirschot represent the Cardinals on the squad.

Minimum academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one's academic career. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.

This is the third ACC All-Academic Team honor for Bitting and Pastor and the second for Schneider. Kaczmarczyk, Kouijzer, Plumb and van Oirschot are making their first appearance on the team.

Bitting (Hummelstown, Pa.) a senior sport administration major is also a two-time NFHCA All-American and a three-time NFHCA All-West Region selection. In 2021, she registered a career-high eight assists and two goals, including one in the 1-0 NCAA quarterfinal win against No. 6 UConn. The two-time All-ACC selection and team co-captain was named to the 2020-21 NCAA All-Tournament team after Louisville's first-ever NCAA semifinal appearance. She is a three-time all-ACC Academic Honor Roll selection.

Pastor, an industrial engineering major from Buenos Aires, Argentina led the Cardinals with 13 goals – five of them game-winners. The senior midfielder/forward also dished out six assists, including one in Louisville's 1-0 win over No. 6 UConn in the NCAA quarterfinals and totaled 32 points, ranking second in the ACC in points and goals. She is a two-time NFHCA All-American and a three-time All-ACC selection (2018, 2019, 2020) and was selected to the NFHCA Senior Team. She has been named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll three times.

Schneider (San Diego, Calif.) earned the Elite 90 Award for the 2020-21 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship, posting the highest GPA (4.0) of the participating semifinal teams and was a finalist for the 2020 NCAA Honda Award for Field Hockey. Additionally, she is a two-time NFHCA All-West Region and 2020-21 Division I Senior Team selection. The three-year starter and team co-captain has helped the Cardinals to 17 shutouts over the last four years – including a 1-0 win against No. 6 UConn in the NCAA quarterfinals to send Louisville to the NCAA Semifinals for the first time in program history. The biology major has been a member of the ACC Academic Honor Roll in each of her seasons at Louisville.

Kaczmarczyk, a sociology major from Melton Mowbray, England, is coming off of a career-best sophomore campaign in which she tallied four goals, including one in the NCAA semifinal game against No. 2 Michigan. She also dished out three assists and totaled 11 points. The midfielder was on the ACC Academic Honor Roll last season.

Kouijzer, a sophomore defender from Amsterdam, The Netherlands, was a 2021 NFHCA All-West Region selection after helping the Cardinals to four shutouts. The two-year starter was named to ACC All-Tournament Team in 2019 and 2020. The marketing major was a member of the ACC Academic Honor Roll as a freshman.

Plumb, a freshman majoring in psychology, stood second on the team with 15 points, tallying six goals and two assists. The Canterbury, England native earned NFHCA All-West Region honors and was named to 2020-21 NCAA All-Tournament Team following her efforts in the Cardinals' first NCAA semifinal appearance.

Van Oirschot (Haarlem, The Netherlands) made an immediate impact during her rookie campaign, garnering NFHCA West Region and ACC second team honors. The midfielder tallied four goals and dished out two assists while starting all 20 games. She is majoring in psychology.

About Louisville
UofL finished the 2020-21 season with a 14-6 overall record and ranked No. 3 in the NFHCA coaches poll and achieved numerous milestones along the way, including reaching the program's first NCAA Final Four. In the fall, the Cards won the ACC regular season title and earned the top seed in the conference tournament after producing a 5-1 record which included a win over two-time defending national champion North Carolina, snapping the Tar Heels' NCAA-best 47-game win streak. Louisville posted a runner-up finish to UNC in the fall ACC tournament.

In the spring, Louisville went on to earn the highest ranking in program history at No. 2 despite the loss of three seniors who opted out for the spring campaign. UofL earned the overall No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, marking the second straight season as a national seed, and went on to beat No. 6 UConn in the quarterfinals to advance to its first NCAA semifinal. Competing in their first-ever Final Four, the Cardinals battled with the No. 2 seed Michigan but eventually fell 2-1 in a sudden-victory shootout.

Louisville Field Hockey All-ACC Academic Team Members
Alli Bitting, Sr.; Sports Administration
Emilia Kaczmarczyk, So.; Sociology
Julie Kouijzer, So.; Marketing
Mercedes Pastor, Sr.; Industrial Engineering
Aimee Plumb, Fr.; Psychology
Meghan Schneider, Sr.; Biology
Charlie van Oirschot, Fr.; Psychology

University of Louisville Athletics

Cardinals Place Seven on All-ACC Field Hockey Academic Team

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Players Mentioned

Alli Bitting

Emilia Kaczmarczyk

Julie Kouijzer

Mercedes Pastor

Aimee Plumb

Meghan Schneider

Charlie van Oirschot

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