Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
DePriest, Navarro and Tillett Land on All-Region Teams
11/27/2018 1:53:00 PM | Women's Soccer
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Continuing the wrap up of the 2018 season, the Middle Tennessee soccer team picked up three United Soccer Coaches All-South Region honors. Peyton DePriest was named to the First Team, Hannah Tillett earned a spot on the Second Team and Sydney Navarro was voted to the Third Team.
"I am really excited for all three players," said Head Coach Aston Rhoden. "They all made significant contributions to our season and are truly deserving of this recognition."
Landing three on the All-South Region team in the same year is the most ever in Blue Raider program history. DePriest is also just the third MT athlete to be named to the First Team and the third athlete to earn the honor twice in her career. Tillett's Second Team honors mark the highest award for a freshman in program history.
DePriest adds the accolade to her shining list of accomplishments in her sophomore season at MT. Earlier this year she was named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year and to the All-Conference USA First Team. She also earned a C-USA Co-Offensive Player of the Week award, was nodded as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, was tabbed as the No. 97 TopDrawerSoccer Player to Watch in the Midseason list and earned a spot on the C-USA All-Academic First Team.
"Peyton continues to improve each year and it's great to see her being recognized from coaches outside the conference as well," Rhoden shared.
In her second season, DePriest persevered through an early season injury to score 11 goals in 12 games. She finished second on the team in shots (48), and was tied for first in shots on goal (27) and goals (11). DePriest's 11 goals were also tied for the most in C-USA. She also led the conference in points per game (2.08), goals per game (0.92) and shots per game (4.00).
Tillett continues to make a splash in her freshman season, capturing more honors. The Huntington, Ind. native was named the C-USA Freshman of the Year, to the All-Conference USA First Team and the All-Conference USA Freshman Team. Tillett also earned a C-USA Offensive Player of the Week award and a Tennessee Sports Writers Association Player of the Week honor during the 2018 season. She was also ranked No. 36 on TopDrawerSoccer's Midseason Freshman to Watch list.
"It's exciting having a young player with such a bright future in the game," Rhoden said. "Hannah had a great year and will only get better."
In her true freshman campaign, Tillett started every game in the Blue Raider midfield while leading the squad in shots (52), shots on goal (27), goals (11), assists (8), and points (30). She also led the conference in goals and points and set a Middle Tennessee single season record for penalty kick goals, scoring five through the 18 game season.
Navarro wrapped up her Middle Tennessee career with her first All-Region honor. The senior was previously named an All-South Region Third Team Scholar Athlete in 2017. During the 2018 season, Navarro earned her first C-USA Defensive Player of the Week award before being named to the C-USA All-Academic Second Team and the All=Conference USA Second Team.
"Syd has been rock solid for us all year and scored some important goals as a defender," explained Rhoden. "We will miss her leadership and competitive spirit."
The Blue Raider captain, Navarro anchored the defense to six shutout victories, the most since 2015, including three in a row over LIU Brooklyn, Valparaiso and Western Carolina. The defender scored two goals on the year and registered one assist.
Conference USA had 13 other selections to the All-South Region teams.
Click here to see the full list of All-South Region honorees.
