VALDOSTA, Ga. – Valdosta State women's soccer freshman midfielder Maria Rojas was named Gulf South Conference Freshman of the Year and earned second team all-league honors, while junior forward Victoria Bahr also earned second team all-conference accolades, the league office announced Friday.
 
Rojas joins current Blazer senior Molly Wooldridge and former Blazer Abby Edwards to have earned GSC Freshman of the Year honors.  Wooldridge earned the accolade in 2021, while Edwards was named Freshman of the Year in 2011 following the inaugural season for Blazer women's soccer program. 
 
Along with Rojas earning the specialty awards were Mya Swinton of West Florida earning Offensive Player of the Year, while her teammate Maciah Lipsey earned Defensive Player of the Year and coach Joe Bartlinski was named Coach of the Year for the ninth time. 
 
A native of Orlando, Fla., and Lake Nona High School, Rojas leads the Blazers with five goals this season with five, while she has 22 shots for the season (.227) with 14 on target to tie for the team lead (.636) and one game winner, while converting one penalty kick attempt.  She has logged 620 minutes this season and helped lead VSU to the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Lee University.  Rojas has played in all 17 matches with four starts this season.  Rojas earned GSC Freshman of the Week honors once this season (Nov. 5) and has helped VSU to an 8-6-3 record overall and a 5-4-3 mark in GSC play.
 
Bahr, a native of Flowery Branch, Ga., played in all 17 matches thus far with ten starts and logged 784 minutes in the midfield.  She has two goals with two assists on the year with seven shots and three on target, while registering two game winners.  Bahr had both winners against Union and Christian Brothers, scoring the winner in the 88^th minute against Union to break a 2-2 tie and the first goal in a 4-0 win over CBU.
 
For her career, Bahr has played in 49 matches with 36 starts, scored nine goals and two assists for 20 points.  She has 70 shots (.129) with 37 on target (.529) with four game winners and has gone 2 of 3 in penalty kicks and logged 2,525 minutes.
 
Click here for the complete all-conference teams.