Four GLVC Squads Earn Women’s Lacrosse Yearly Awards

INDIANAPOLIS – Maryville junior attacker Paige Murphy, Indianapolis senior midfielder Malaena Michielin, Quincy senior defender Mikenna Ham, McKendree junior goalkeeper Amber Hayden and freshman attacker Elora Waardenburg, and Greyhounds’ head coach Peyton Romig have earned major postseason honors for the 2026 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Women’s Lacrosse season, the league office announced on Thursday.
 
Murphy was named Attacker of the Year, Michielin earned Midfielder of the Year, Ham garnered Defender of the Year, Hayden was tabbed Goalkeeper of the Year, Waardenburg collected Freshman of the Year, and Romig was dubbed Coach of the Year by her peers. In total, 39 student-athletes claimed All-Conference honors, while eight were chosen as GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship honorees for the sport and Rockhurst as the team sportsmanship award winner.

Attacker of the Year: Paige Murphy, Junior, Maryville

• Unanimously claims Attacker of the Year award
  • Saints have claimed the award for the fourth-straight year.
• Led league in GLVC-only games for goals (43, 6.14/game), points (51, 7.29/game), and shots (97, 13.86/game).
• Overall led in goals (90, 5.63/game), points (106, 6.63/game), and shots (198, 12.38/game)
• Second in DII in goals per game, third in total goals, third in points per game, and eighth in total points.
• Started all 15 games for Maryville.
• Named GLVC Offensive Player of the Week on February 17, and April 27.
• Garnered IWLCA National Offensive Player of the Week on Apr. 28.
• Named to the All-GLVC First Team.

Midfielder of the Year: Malaena Michielin, Senior, Indianapolis

• Wins first Midfielder of the Year honor.
  • Third Greyhound to win award, joining Olivia Bladon in 2025, and Peyton Romig in 2021 and 2022.
• Fifth in goals (23, 3.29/game), sixth in points (31, 4.43/game), and seventh in shots (41, 5.86/game) in GLVC only matches.
• Third overall in goals (55), fourth in goals per game (3.44), fifth in points (74, 4.63/game), and fifth in shots (106, 6.63).
• Ranks 20th in Division II in goals per game and 25th in Division II in points per game.
• Started all 16 games for the Greyhounds.
• Named GLVC Offensive Player of the Week on March 2, and April 13
• Earns third All-GLVC selection and first on the First Team.

 
Defender of the Year: Mikenna Ham, Senior, Defender, Quincy

• Secures first GLVC Defender of the Year for the Hawks.
  • Third Quincy major award winner.
• Leads in GLVC-only contests for ground balls (24, 3.43/game) and in caused turnovers (19, 2.71/game)
• Ranked first overall in the Conference in ground balls (50, 2.94/game) and caused turnovers (47, 2.76/game), also placed eighth in draw controls per game (3.35)
• Started all 17 games for Quincy.
• Earns fourth All-GLVC selection and first on the First Team.

Goalkeeper of the Year: Amber Hayden, Junior, McKendree

• Becomes the second goalkeeper to win the award back-to-back
• Led league in GLVC-only games for saves (98), saves per game (14.00), and placed fourth in save percentage (.516)
  • Also placed eighth in ground balls with 14 (2.00/game).
• Led league overall in the Conference in saves per game (12.53), saves (188), and saves percentage (.539), placing third in ground balls per game (2.33).
• Started all 15 games
• Earns second straight All-GLVC First Team selection

Freshman of the Year: Elora Waardenburg, Attacker, McKendree

• Takes home first Freshman of the Year honor for the Bearcats
• Scored 38 goals and 16 assists for 54 points overall
  • Tallied 15 goals and three assists for 18 points in GLVC-only matches
• Started all 17 games for McKendree.
• One of two freshman on the All-GLVC Second Team.

Coach of the Year: Peyton Romig, Indianapolis

• Secures the first Coach of the Year award for the Greyhounds
  • Accumulated three personal GLVC Awards with two Midfielder of the Year awards while as a student-athlete.
• In her third year with the Greyhounds, she managed the team to a 15-1 record, 7-0 in conference play and the number one seed in the Conference Tournament.
• Her Indianapolis squad finished second in Division II in scoring offense, scoring 18.31 goals per game.
• Finished fifth in Division II in scoring defense, allowing only 6.44 goals per game.
• In addition to guiding Michielin to a major award and an All-GLVC selection, she mentored Olivia Bladon, Amanda Hurry, and Mariah Whitfield to First Team selections, Bladon, Sage Da Silva, Ava Graham, Hollis Rang, and Alexa Versaci to Second Team nods, and Margaret Galloway, and Megan Ghert to Honorable Mention.

 
Indianapolis led all league programs with four first-team choices, while Maryville and Rockhurst garnered three selections each. McKendree earned two first-team choices, while Quincy had the lone honoree.
 
The league also recognized Rockhurst as its GLVC Women’s Lacrosse James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award team recipient, as well as eight student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school’s two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced in May.
 
A complete list of the 2026 All-GLVC teams and postseason honorees can be found below.
 
ATTACKER OF THE YEAR: Paige Murphy, Jr., A, Maryville #
DEFENDER OF THE YEAR: Mikenna Ham, Sr., D, Quincy
MIDFIELDER OF THE YEAR: Malaena Michielin, Sr., MF, Indianapolis
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR: Amber Hayden, Jr., McKendree
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Elora Waardenburg, Att. McKendree
COACH OF THE YEAR: Peyton Romig, Indianapolis
 

FIRST TEAM Olivia Bladon, Sr., MF, UINDY Amanda Hurry, Jr., D, UINDY Malaena Michielin, Sr., MF, UINDY Mariah Whitfield, Jr., D, UINDY Helen Bae, Sr., Att., MU Dorothy Fife, Sr., D, MU Paige Murphy, Jr., Att., MU Jayna Barnden, Sr., Att., MCK Amber Hayden, Jr., GK, MCK Mikenna Ham, Sr., D, QU Elise Magee, Sr., Att., RU Kylee Pickens, So., MF, RU Kylee Pickens, So., DC-Spec., RU   #Unanimous Selection

SECOND TEAM Olivia Bladon, Sr., DC-Spec., UINDY Sage Da Silva, Sr., MF, UINDY Ava Graham, Jr., GK, UINDY Hollis Rang, Sr., D, UINDY Alexa Versaci, Sr., Att., UINDY Jade McKinnon, So., MF, LEWIS Alexis Riley, Fr., D, LEWIS Haley Ritchie, Sr., D, MU Olivia Imperato, Fr., D, MCK Lexi Macleod, Jr., MF, MCK Elora Waardenburg, Fr., Att., MCK Caetryn Gilreath, R-Sr., Att., MWSU Emily Leal, Sr., MF, QU Amelia Ham, Sr., Att., QU   *Extra Member due to Tie.

HONORABLE MENTION Margaret Galloway, Fr., Att., UINDY Megan Ghert, So., Att., UINDY Eliana Cappellini, So., MF, LEWIS Devyn Harley, So., D, LEWIS Devyn Dimovitz, Jr., Att., MU Natalie Tomljenovic, Jr., Att., MU Rylee Fox, Jr., D, MCK Ava Garaway, Jr., GK, MWSU Maleah Sosa, Sr., D, MWSU Jenna Lang, Jr., D, QU Alaina Wilkinson, Jr., Att., QU Chony Garza, Jr., D, RU

GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP HONOREES
Megan Gehrt, UINDY
Samantha Sandefur, LEWIS
Tia Sansone, MU
Mackenzie Stroisch, MCK
Brittan Gulick, MWSU
Chloe Kerwin, QU
Payton Thomas, RU
Miranda Menousek, WJC

GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM AWARD
Rockhurst