Dec. 17, 2008

Indianapolis, Ind. - Grand Valley State senior soccer player Katy Tafler has been selected by the NCAA Honors Committee as one of eight outstanding student-athletes for their athletics success, academic achievement and community service as recipients of the 2009 NCAA Top VIII Award. Tafler is Grand Valley State's first-ever Top VIII recipient. The NCAA Top VIII Award will be presented at the NCAA Honors Celebration at the Newseum, The Interactive Museum of News in downtown Washington, D.C. on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009.

Tafler has garnered numerous awards during her illustrious career at Grand Valley State. She is a two-time Daktronics, Inc. Division II Player of the Year (2006, '07) and a three-time all-american. She has earned Daktronics, Inc. First Team All-American status in each of the last three years and was an National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Second Team All-American this year after being an NSCAA First Team All-American the previous two years. In both 2006 and 2007, Tafler was named to the NSCAA Division II Final Four All-Tournament team.

"Katy Tafler is very deserving of The NCAA Top VIII Award, which is one of the most prestigious awards given by the NCAA," said Tim Selgo, Grand Valley State Director of Athletics. "Katy committed herself to being the best student-athlete she could be and is very deserving of this award for her performance in the classroom as well as on the soccer field. She has been an outstanding representative of Grand Valley State and Laker Athletics."

Tafler is the only Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference player in history to record at least 40 goals and 40 assists in her career, and is just the 17th player to do so in Division II history. In her career, she ranks third in goals with 114 and third in points with 269. Tafler's point totals are both conference and school records as well. She has been named to the NSCAA Midwest Region First Team all four of her years at GVSU, and she has been a Daktronics, Inc. Midwest Region First Team honoree for the past three seasons. In each of the past three seasons, she has been selected as the Daktronics, Inc. Midwest Region Player of the Year. She has been a four-time All-GLIAC First-Team honoree and was chosen as the conference's Offensive Player of the Year for the past three seasons. During her freshman year, she was selected as the GLIAC Freshman of the Year.

Tafler led the Lakers in both goals and points for the fourth consecutive season during 2008. She finished the 2008 season with 20 goals, 13 assists and 53 points, marking her fourth straight year with at least 20 goals. She holds the Grand Valley State single-season record for goals with 36 in 2007. Her 85 points from the 2007 season are also a school single-season record. Those single-season marks are both tied for sixth in Division II history. She led the Lakers in assists with 13 in both 2007 and 2008 and is tied for the school record with 41 assists in her career. She led Division II in both points per game and goals per game during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. At one point, she scored a goal in 11 consecutive matches from Sept. 2, 2007 to Oct. 14, 2007, which is tied for fifth in Division II history.

"Katy has had the drive and determination from the beginning of her career to be the best she could possibly be in the sport of soccer and as a student-athlete," said GVSU head women's soccer coach Dave DiIanni. "She has never settled for having an average work ethic and in most cases she has exceeded our expectations. Katy has been a leader for our team both on and off the field and puts her academics as a top priority. She understands and craves the opportunity to learn and make the most of what she has been given."

During her time at GVSU, the Lakers advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament every year and played their way to the national championship in 2006. The team has compiled an astounding 81-7-2 record during her four years, coming out to a winning percentage of .911. In the GLIAC, Tafler and the Lakers have put together a record of 36-2 for a winning percentage of .947. The team also put together a streak of 43 home games without a loss, which ranks third in Division II annals. Grand Valley State won every match in the regular season for her final two years and held the NSCAA No. 1 ranking for the majority of both of those years. They have also won 27 straight conference matches, dating back to Sept. 29, 2006, a span which is tied for third in Division II history.

She has also been honored for her work in the classroom, as she was named the ESPN the Magazine 2008 College Division Academic All-American of the Year, as well as being an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America selection in both 2006 and 2008. She was also a 2007 NSCAA Scholar All-American. During the 2007 season, she was awarded the inaugural GLIAC Commissioner's Award, which is given for achievement on the field and in the classroom. She has been an Academic All-GLIAC selection all three years that she has been eligible and has been named to the GVSU Dean's List six times. She has compiled a grade-point average of 3.91 in Biomedical Science during her tenure at Grand Valley State.

In addition to Tafler, Kirby Blackley (Findlay), Kristi Kay Miller (Georgia Tech), Dylan Carney (Stanford), Greg Micheli (Mount Union College), Angela Tincher (Virginia Tech), Louie Sakoda (Utah) and Yael Averbuch (North Carolina) are 2009 recipients of the Top VIII Award. Tafler is just the fourth student-athlete from a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference member institution and the 10th from a Michigan college to be awarded one of the NCAA's most sought-after awards.