FORT MYERS, Fla. – A pair of former Eagles have landed on the ASUN Women's Soccer All-Decade Team (2000-09), as announced by the conference on Friday afternoon. Both Amber McCall and Kathleen Hunter made their way onto the 28-player squad, which represents the best-of-the-best from the early 2000s of ASUN women's soccer.

Not only was the pair on the program's inaugural team in 2007, but they each earned a start in the Eagles' first-ever NCAA Division I match, a 10-0 shutout over Alabama State (Aug. 31, 2007). McCall and Hunter also led FGCU to its first-ever ASUN regular season title in 2010. Due to reclassification rules, however, the team did not make its first appearance in the postseason until 2011, by which point McCall had completed her eligibility. At the end of that historic campaign, Hunter led the team to an ASUN regular season title, an ASUN Tournament Championship and the Eagles' debut in the NCAA Tournament: a match against the Florida Gators.

"This is an incredible honor for both Kat and Amber," five-time ASUN Coach of the Year Jim Blankenship said. "These two athletes shaped and embodied our culture from the start, both on and off the field. They were instrumental in establishing our program, they proved the definition of 'commitment' and they attacked each and every day with significant drive."

To be named to the All-Decade Team, an individual must have competed for at least two years in the decade as an ASUN student-athlete. Individuals that obtained one of the following criteria were named to the team: three First Team All-ASUN selections, four All-ASUN selections, multiple Scholar-Athlete/Player of the Year honors or be an ASUN Hall of Famer. Individuals that obtained at least two of the following criteria were also named to the team: Player/Tournament MVP/Freshman/Defensive Player/Goalkeeper/Scholar-Athlete of the Year, three All-ASUN selections, two First Team All-ASUN selections.  

Based on that criteria, both McCall and Hunter made the cut.

Kathleen Hunter | D | 2007-11 | Safety Harbor, Fla.
Three-time All-ASUN selection … Earned a First Team All-ASUN selection as a senior (2011) … Named to the 2011 ASUN All-Tournament Team … Received Second Team All-ASUN honors both as a redshirt-junior (2010) and as a freshman (2007) … Named ASUN Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 18, 2010 … Tabbed to the ASUN All-Freshmen Team (2007) … Started in every match that she appeared in as an Eagle … Ranks 10th in program history in career starts (72).

Amber McCall | MF | 2007-09 | Fort Myers, Fla.
Three-time First Team All-ASUN selection (2007-09) … Two-time ASUN All-Academic honoree (2007-08) … Received ASUN Player of the Week selection on Sept. 28, 2009 … Started every match that she appeared in as an Eagle … Ranks in the FGCU career record book in goals (24, fourth), game-winning goals (8, sixth) and points (57, seventh) … One of six individual Eagles that has scored double-digit goals in a single season (10, 2007).

Though she was not a student-athlete at FGCU, former women's soccer assistant coach Erin Switalski was also tabbed to the All-Decade Team. The keeper, who starred at Campbell from 2001-04, still ranks in the ASUN's career record book in shutouts (25, sixth) and saves (329, 12th). Switalski is now the head coach at the University of Tampa.

For the complete All-Decade Team, click HERE.

For complete coverage of FGCU women's soccer, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_WSoccer and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU women's soccer or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

COACH JIM BLANKENSHIP
A veteran of over two decades in collegiate coaching, head coach Jim Blankenship, who was named the ASUN Coach of the Year in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2019, has built FGCU women's soccer into a yearly contender in the ASUN Conference and a rising program in the South Region in just 13 seasons. Blankenship started the program in 2007 and has since guided the Eagles to 13 double-digit win seasons, culminating with ASUN Regular Season Championships in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. In 2011 and 2012 he also led the Eagles to back-to-back ASUN Tournament titles as they became the first team in the history of the university to make it to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles went on to win the 2014 ASUN Tournament and hosted the first NCAA Championship event on campus. The Eagles earned their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance with the 2015 ASUN Tournament Championship and won their first NCAA game at USF in 2015 while finishing 24th in the nation. In 2016, the Eagles made it three-consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament with a third-straight ASUN Tournament title. A year later, the Eagles became the first ASUN women's soccer program to make four-straight NCAA Tournaments with another tournament title in 2017. Blankenship has guided FGCU to a 167-59-25 (.716) overall record through the first 13 seasons of the program's existence, including an 82-15-15 (.801) mark in the ASUN. Blankenship's impressive career record of 407-130-36 (.743) over 26 seasons has come while leading FGCU, the University of Miami, Lynn University and St. Thomas University.

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FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
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