Feb. 7, 2007
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech standout Whitney Haller garnered her second preseason honor when ESPN.com selected her to its Preseason All-America second team, announced on Tuesday. Haller and the Yellow Jackets will host Southern Conference Champions Georgia Southern on Saturday, Feb. 10, to open the 2007 season. The doubleheader is slated for a 1 p.m. start at Glenn Field.
“Being an All-American is a major goal of mine,” said Haller. “This is a big deal in my mind. I just missed making the All-American team last year, so hopefully this year I can make it.”
Haller, a sophomore from Marietta, Ga., was named to the USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List earlier this preseason after making the final 25 a season ago with a .393 batting average and an Atlantic Coast Conference record 24 home runs.
“It is quite impressive to see her name amongst the others chosen for this great honor,” said first-year Tech coach Sharon Perkins. “Whitney is a phenomenal student-athlete and well-deserving to be named to this team. She is hard-working and fun to coach every day and a great teammate. This is great for our team and Georgia Tech.”
She was only the second ACC player to be selected to the preseason All-America team, joining Florida State’s Veronica Wootson (second base). Haller earned ACC Freshman of the Year honors last season after breaking league records in home runs, RBI (72), total bases (171), slugging percentage (.799) and saves (6).
The first baseman was named to the All-ACC first team, NFCA All-Southeast Region first team and team most valuable player as a rookie. Haller also etched her name in the Tech record book in runs scored (63) and put outs (424) to go along with her ACC records.
For the entire teams, please go to ESPN.com.
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