VALDOSTA, Ga. – Valdosta State freshman women's soccer midfielder Maria Rojas was named Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Second Team All-South Region.
 
Rojas, a native of Orlando, Fla., was named Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Year and second team all-GSC in 2024.  She joined senior Molly Wooldridge and former Blazer Abby Edwards to be named Freshman of the Year in the GSC.  Wooldridge earned the honor in 2021, while Edwards was lauded Freshman of the Year in 2011, following the inaugural season for the Blazer women's soccer program.

This season, Rojas made an immediate impact for the Blazers, helping lead the team to an 8-7-3 record overall and a 5-4-3 mark in GSC play.  Rojas led the Blazers with five goals scored for ten points for third on the team in scoring.  She finished with 23 shots tying her for second on the team (.217) and had a team-high 15 shots on target (.652), while registering one game winner and 1 for 1 in penalty kicks.   
 
She earned GSC Freshman of the Week honors once this season (Nov. 5) and played in all 18 matches with four starts, logging 660 minutes.  She scored the game winner in the 73^rd minute at Mississippi College (Nov. 1) as VSU beat MC 2-0 marking the first victory over the Choctaws in program history earning her the GSC Freshman of the Week accolade.
 
UWF's Mya Swinton was named South Region Player of the Year, while the GSC had 16 selections to the all-region team with nine first team honorees and seven second team award winners.  Six different GSC schools had all-region selections, while Rojas and Amanda Caines (second team) of Rollins College were the only freshmen to earn all-region accolades.