ATLANTA – After an undefeated league season, the University of South Alabama soccer program had seven student-athletes named to the all-Sun Belt Conference teams and two take home individual awards, in addition to the coach of the year.

The Jaguars placed a league-high five on the first team and two more on the second, matching their total from last year. The awards were given out at the league's annual banquet.

Head coach Graham Winkworth repeated as the league's coach of the year, Jemma Purfield was voted the freshman of the year, and sophomore Steffi Hardy was named the defender of the year.

Joining Hardy on the first team are sophomores Chardé Hannah, Chelsea Followwell and Danielle Henley, and senior Nini Rabsatt-Smith.

Purfield is a second-team selection with junior Monique Autmon.

Winkworth guided the team to a perfect 9-0 season in conference play, becoming the first school to do so since 2010. The Jags enter the tournament winners of their last 10 matches. He is just the second coach in conference history to win consecutive outright coach-of-the-year honors, and first since 2002.

For the third consecutive season, a South Alabama student-athlete has earned the freshman of the year. Purfield, a Cottingham, England native, is tied for second in the SBC in assists (8) and assists per game (0.44), and was one of three players – and the only freshman – on the team to start all 18 games. One of her three goals was the double-overtime winner at Louisiana-Monroe, and she put together a four-match assist streak in September.

USA also boasts the defender of the year in back-to-back seasons with Hardy claiming the award thanks to her six-goal season and leading the second-stingiest defense in the Sun Belt. The Workington, England native is tied for sixth in the conference in goals (6), while the defense is ranked second in goals allowed (0.78), goals against average (0.75) and shutouts (8). Hardy, also a first-team selection in 2014, has racked up the most minutes played on the team – including every minute of the league campaign – and recorded game-winning goals vs. Louisiana Tech and Troy, in addition to her hat trick in the regular-season finale.

Rabsatt-Smith also played a key role on the tough Jaguar defense, and scored a pair of goals during the conference season, including the match-winner at Georgia State. The Montgomery, Ala. native is making her second straight appearance on the all-SBC First Team. The Jaguars shut out four Sun Belt opponents, including three in a row for the first time in school history.

Hannah, a repeat first-team pick, is fifth in the Sun Belt in points (19) and points per game (1.36), and tied for fifth in goals (7) and goals per game (0.50). The Tupelo, Miss. product also ranked tied for sixth in assists (5) and fourth in assists per game (0.36), with four of five assists coming against Sun Belt competition. She scored a brace, including match-tying and –winning goal, at Samford, and ended the regular season with at least one point in her last seven matches.

Both Henley and Followwell are box-to-box midfielders on the team that ranked first in the SBC in goals (2.44) and points per game (7.17), and second in goals allowed and goals against average.

Followwell, a Sachse, Texas native, accumulated nine points on the year – sixth-best on the team – and tallied the match-winning goal vs. Austin Peay, while assisting on game-winners vs. Louisiana Tech and Georgia State.

Henley, a second-team all-Sun Belt honoree last year, is tied for 10th in the Sun Belt in goals (6) and tied for fourth in game-winning goals. Four of the Hattiesburg, Miss. native's six scores came against league competition in back-to-back games against Appalachian State and Texas State, and Little Rock and Arkansas State. The goals vs. Texas State and App State were both match-winners.

Autmon anchored the midfield and has played the second-most minutes on the team (1,627). The Ocean Springs, Miss. product scored a goal – the match-winner – with an assist vs. UT Martin, and also found the net in the double overtime win at Louisiana-Monroe. USA held nine opponents to nine shots or fewer, and seven to three shots on goal or fewer.

The Jaguars (15-2-1, 9-0) open Sun Belt Tournament play Wednesday afternoon against Louisiana-Lafayette.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—

2015 All-Sun Belt First Team
Nora El-Shami (Georgia Southern, Senior, Forward)
Chardé Hannah (South Alabama, Sophomore, Forward)
Lynsey Curry (Texas State, Senior, Forward)
Suzanne Arafa (Georgia State, Junior, Midfielder)
Chelsea Followwell (South Alabama, Sophomore, Midfielder)
Danielle Henley (South Alabama, Sophomore, Midfielder)
Alissa Jones (Troy, Senior, Midfielder)
Lindsey Tully (Appalachian State, Sophomore, Defender)
Steffi Hardy (South Alabama, Sophomore, Defender)
Nini Rabsatt-Smith (South Alabama, Senior, Defender)
Mikki Lewis (Troy, Sophomore, Goalkeeper)

2015 All-Sun Belt Second Team
Jane Cline (Appalachian State, Junior, Forward)
Lauren Prater (Texas State, Junior, Forward)
Chelsey Williams (Troy, Senior, Forward)
Ashley Nagy (Georgia State, Senior, Forward)
Caitlyn Eddy (Little Rock, Freshman, Midfielder)
Monique Autmon (South Alabama, Junior, Midfielder)
Jasmine Fahrnbauer (Troy, Senior, Midfielder)
Jemma Purfield (South Alabama, Freshman, Defender)
Chandler Cooney (Texas State, Sophomore, Defender)
Haley Roberson (Troy, Sophomore, Defender)
Sara Small (Little Rock, Junior, Goalkeeper)

2015 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year
Lynsey Curry (Texas State, Senior, Forward)

2015 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year
Steffi Hardy (South Alabama, Sophomore, Defender)

2015 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year
Jemma Purfield (South Alabama, Freshman, Defender)

2015 Sun Belt Coach of the Year
Graham Winkworth, South Alabama