April 24, 2017
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Elizabeth Ball (Richmond, Va.) and Brittany Basinger (Purcellville, Va.) have been selected as captains of the 2017 Penn State women's soccer team, as announced by head coach Erica Dambach.
"I'm proud of the strides made this spring by the 2017 squad," Dambach said. "We have focused our efforts on preparing for the physical and mental demands of the game in the fall. We stretched them in many ways and have seen growth by many individuals as well as the team as a whole. The off-season presents many challenges and, in order to develop, you must have the leaders to keep the team focused on chasing greatness."
"Elizabeth Ball and Brittany Basinger have emerged over the course of time as the standard bearers," Dambach added. "They were chosen by their peers as captains for the 2017 season and will work closely with the coaching staff to continue our mission at Penn State to be the best place in the country to play college soccer."
Ball, a rising senior defender, has started all but one match on the Nittany Lion backline over the past three seasons. In her Nittany Lion career, Ball has played in 72 matches, tallied 71 starts, scored six goals and added one assist.
In 2016, Ball received All-Big Ten First Team plaudits and was named to the NSCAA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team.
Basinger, a rising redshirt senior defender, continues her captaincy of the Nittany Lions for a second-straight season in 2017.
In her career, Basinger has started 71 of 71 matches on the Nittany Lion backline, scored four goals and dished out six assists. A member of the 2013 All-Big Ten Freshman Team, Basinger used a redshirt during the 2014 season.
The 2017 Nittany Lions return 17 letterwinners from the 2016 season and five letterwinners that missed the 2016 season due to the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.