Courtesy Amherst Sports Information

AMHERST, Mass. - Amherst senior women's soccer player Alanna Darling (Charlton, Mass.) has been selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) to the Academic All-America Second Team. After being named to the All-District First Team, Darling was the only NESCAC women's soccer player to receive the honor, which is given in conjunction with ESPN The Magazine.

Darling is the third women's soccer player in program history to make one of the teams, joining Ellie Hickerson (1998) and Cathy Poor (2001), and she is only the 16th Amherst student-athlete to earn Academic All-America.

Darling was joined by Lauren Sinnenberg of Williams College on the All-District First Team, while classmate and fellow quad-captain Kate Bentley (Atherton, Calif.) was named to the District 1 Third Team. Double-majoring in biology and Spanish with a 3.73 GPA, Darling has been a major contributor in the Jeffs’ lineup in each of the past four years, earning All-NESCAC First Team honors as a sophomore and again as a junior, adding NSCAA/adidas All-New England First Team honors in each of the last two years. Last year, Darling received NSCAA Scholar-Athlete All-America East Region Honorable Mention.

As a captain and starter in the middle of Amherst's defense, Darling has helped lead the Lord Jeffs to a 13-2-3 record this season, including an undefeated 7-0-2 mark in conference play. After falling in the 2008 NESCAC Championship 3-2 in overtime to defending NESCAC Champion Williams, Amherst received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Last weekend, Darling and Amherst picked up wins over Farmingdale State and Springfield to punch a ticket for this weekend's NCAA Tournament sectionals round. Amherst will face Otterbein College on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Hobart-William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y.