IRVING, Texas – Standout players from James Madison, East Carolina and Old Dominion received major individual awards from the American Athletic Conference women’s lacrosse coaches as the conference announced its 2025 all-conference teams and players of the year.
 
James Madison’s Maddie Epke was unanimously chosen as The American’s Attack Player of the Year, while Adanya Moyer was named as Goalkeeper of the Year. The Dukes’ coaching staff of head coach Shelley Klaes, and assistant coaches Kateri Linville, Kiley Anderson and Matt Snyder was chosen as the conference’s Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
East Carolina’s Kayla Wilkes was named as The American’s Midfielder of the Year, while the Pirates’ Emma Magazu was chosen as Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Old Dominion midfielder Sarah Murrell was the choice of the coaches as Freshman of the Year.
 
Epke becomes the second James Madison player to be named as Attack Player of the Year, joining Isabella Peterson (2023). Epke finished the regular season ranked second among American Athletic Conference players with 54 goals and is the NCAA Division I leader in draw controls (204, 12.8 per game). 
 
Moyer is the first James Madison player to be named as The American’s Goalkeeper of the Year. She took over as the Dukes’ starter in the fifth game of the season and went on to lead JMU to a 9-3 record, including a six-game winning streak to close the regular season. Moyer finished the regular season as the conference leader in both save percentage (.465) and goals-against average (10.26) in leading the Dukes to The American’s outright regular-season title.
 
Wilkes became the first East Carolina player to win Midfielder of the Year accolades after she contributed on both ends of the field for the Pirates. Wilkes led the team in scoring with 37 goals and 11 assists for 48 points, and team-high with 13 free position goals and 51 draw controls. She added 27 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers for a Pirate squad that went 4-2 in conference play.
 
Magazu is the first East Carolina player to be named as Defensive Player of the Year. She led all American close defenders with 25 caused turnovers and ranked second in the conference with 37 ground balls while regularly assigned to cover the opponent’s top scoring threat.
 
Murrell becomes the first Old Dominion player to be named as The American’s Freshman of the Year after she led the Monarchs with 43 goals and five assists for 48 points while adding 79 draw controls, 17 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers in her first year. Murrell ranks eighth in the conference in goals (2.5 per game) and second in draw controls (4.7 per game).
 
James Madison’s coaching staff was honored as The American’s top staff for the second time in three years. The Dukes went 6-0 in conference play and improved their regular-season conference record to 17-1 in their three years in the conference. JMU, ranked No. 11 in this week’s ILWomen poll, went 12-4 in the regular season against a schedule that included six games against top-25 opponents and four against top-10 teams.
 
Epke, Wilkes, Magazu and Murrell were all unanimous choices to The American’s all-conference first team, joining South Florida attack Sofia Chepenik. James Madison led The American with five first-team all-conference choices and 10 players named to either the first or second team.
 

2025 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN'S LACROSSE AWARDS
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE ATTACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Maddie Epke, James Madison *
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MIDFIELDERS OF THE YEAR
Kayla Wilkes, East Carolina
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Emma Magazu, East Carolina
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
Adanya Moyer, James Madison
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Sarah Murrell, M, Old Dominion
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR
James Madison
(Head Coach Shelly Klaes, Assistant Coach Kateri Linville, Assistant Coach Kiley Anderson, Assistant Coach Matt Snyder)
 

ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
Pos.	Player	School	Cl.	Hometown
A	Kylie Gioia	Charlotte	Sr.	Broomall, Pal
A	Isa Torres	Charlotte	So.	Glenelg, Md.
A	Savannah Derey	James Madison	Sr.	Roanoke, Va.
A	Maddie Epke * 2 1	James Madison	Jr.	Guilford, Conn.
A	Sofia Chepenik *	South Florida	So.	Jacksonville, Fla.
A	Jaime Biskup	Vanderbilt	Gr.	Manorville, N.Y.
M	Kayla Wilkes *	East Carolina	Jr.	Sinking Spring, Pa.
M	Sarah Murrell *	Old Dominion	Fr.	Perryville, Md.
M	Kemper Robinson 1	Vanderbilt	Sr.	Owings Mills, Md.
M	Kaitlyn Tartaglione	South Florida	Jr.	Bernardsville, N.J.
M	Brooke Baker	Vanderbilt	Gr.	Raleigh, N.C.
D	Gianna Cutaia	Charlotte	Gr.	Spencerport, N.Y.
D	Emma Magazu *	East Carolina	Sr.	Newtown, Conn.
D	Ava Bleckley 1	James Madison	So.	Newtown Square, Pa.
D	Reese Cuviello	James Madison	Fr.	Fairfax, Va.
G	Adanya Moyer	James Madison	Sr.	Silver Spring, Md.
* unanimous selection
ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
Pos.	Player	School	Cl.	Hometown
A	Leah Bestany 2	East Carolina	Sr.	Bethpage, N.Y.
A	Erin Gulden	East Carolina	Sr.	West River, Md.
A	Olivia Matthews	James Madison	Fr.	Bedford, N.H.
A	Payton Root	James Madison	Fr.	Guilford, Conn.
A	Julianna George	South Florida	Gr.	Glen Mills, Pa.
A	Erin King	Temple	Sr.	Kennesaw, Ga.
A	Nancy Halleron 2	Vanderbilt	Sr.	Timonium, Md.
M	Chloe Bleckley	James Madison	Fr.	Newtown Square, Pa.
M	Maggie Clark	James Madison	Sr.	Bayport, N.Y.
M	Kali Cleary	South Florida	Fr.	Naples, Fla.
M	Sarah Gowman	Temple	So.	Birdsboro, Pa.
M	Sabrina Martin	Temple	Jr.	Montclair, N.J.
D	Caroline Meninger	East Carolina	Sr.	Ellicott City, Md.
D	Carolyn Thistlewaite	James Madison	Gr.	New Hope, Pa.
D	McKenzie Raech	Old Dominion	Sr.	Wallingford, Pa.
D	Mikaela Ness	South Florida	Gr.	Forest Lake, Minn.
D	Kat Bielinski	Temple	Jr.	Wayne, Pa.
D	Alex Gladding	Vanderbilt	So.	Pompano Beach, Fla.
G	Jaime Behar	East Carolina	Jr.	Mineola, N.Y.

                                                                                                                   
^{1 2} indicates previous selections to first or second team