Michigan State University Athletics
Three Spartans Named to MAC Hermann Watch List
8/26/2026 1:10:00 PM | Women's Soccer
East Lansing, Mich. -- The Intercollegiate Women's Soccer Organization for Coaches (IWSOC), in partnership with United Soccer Coaches, announced on Wednesday the NCAA Division I women's college soccer players named to the 2026 Hermann Trophy Watch List.
Three Spartans rank among the 63 Division I women's soccer players on the initial list.   Kennedy Bell (Charlotte, NC) makes her second straight appearance after earning a mid-season spot in 2025, while Emerson Sargeant (Hartland, Mich) and Kayla Briggs (Toronto, Ontario) each make the list for the first time.  This is the first time in program history in which MSU has had three make the preseason Watch List; MSU had two in 2025 (Maggie Illig and Bella Najera), with Bell joining the list when the mid-season additions were announced.
Presented annually since 1967, the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy is the most definitive and prestigious annual award in collegiate soccer. It is given to the top male and female collegiate soccer player each season - the soccer equivalent of college football's Heisman Trophy.  It is named for Robert R. Hermann, former Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and one of its founders. Â
Bell is just the second Spartan to make the list more than one time – Laura Heyboer was on the watch list in 2008, 2009, and 2010 and was on the list of finalists in 2008.  Â
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The trio is among an impressive group of Spartan upperclassmen who have all earned All-Big Ten, All-Region, and All-America honors.  Bell and Briggs were each Second Team United Soccer Coaches All-America picks in 2025 and Sargeant was an All-North Region honoree.Â
The Spartans, Colorado, Memphis, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin all have three Watch List athletes, the second-most behind Duke's four.  The Buffaloes come to DeMartin Stadium on Sunday morning for a rematch of the 2025 NCAA Sweet 16 matchup, while MSU will travel to No. 25 Notre Dame on Sept. 4. Â
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2026 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List (Aug. 26)
Valentina Amaral (Sr., Wake Forest, Oviedo, Fla.)
Azul Alvarez (Sr., Baylor, Round Rock, Texas)
Kennedy Ball (Sr., Arkansas, Lookout Mountain, Ga.)
Kennedy Bell (Sr., Michigan State, Charlotte, N.C.)
Hailey Baumann (Sr., Wisconsin, South Lyon, Mich.)
Caroline Birkel (So., Stanford, St. Louis, Mo.)
Kayla Briggs (Sr., Michigan State, Toronto, Ont.)
Alex Buck (Jr., Washington, Medina, Wash.)
Sofia Bush (Sr., Iowa, Marion, Iowa)
Bella Carapazza (Sr., Texas A&M, Tarpon Springs, Fla.)
Caroline Castans (Sr., Kansas, Flower Mound, Texas)
Annabelle Chukwu (Jr., Notre Dame, Ottawa, Ont.)
Katie Shea Collins (Jr., Duke, Gallatin, Tenn.)
Erin Connolly (Sr., Wisconsin, Clayton, Mo.)
Sam Courtwright (So., Duke, Dallas, Texas)
Summer Denigan (Sr., North Carolina, Union, Ky.)
Izzy Engle (Jr., Notre Dame, Edina, Minn.)
Samantha Erbach (Jr., Florida State, Lebanon, Ohio)
Bella Field (Jr., Arkansas, Leawood, Kan.)
Ava Galligan (Sr., Louisiana State, Ashburn, Va.)
Millie Greer (Sr., Iowa, Scottsdale, Ariz.)
Liv Grenda (Jr., Dayton, Perkasie, Pa.)
Sierra Giorgio (Sr., South Alabama, Vaughan, Ont.)
Kaya Hanson (Sr., Georgetown, Seattle, Wash.)
Ashley Henderson (Sr., Florida State, Memphis, Tenn.)
Jace Holley (Jr., Colorado, Fort Collins, Colo.)
Courtney Jones (Sr., Vanderbilt, Orlando, Fla.)
Annika Jost (Jr., United States Air Force Academy, Temecula, Calif.)
Lucy Kesler (Jr., Brigham Young, American Fork, Utah)
Ai Kitagawa (Jr., Memphis, Itami City, Japan)
Kameron Kloza (Sr., Texas-San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas)
Charlotte Kohler (Jr., Stanford, Woodside, Calif.)
Abby Kudla (Jr., Memphis, Strongsville, Ohio)
Ashlynn Kulha (Sr., Old Dominion, Holly Springs, Miss.)
Ginny Lackey (Jr., James Madison, Bolton, England)
Finley Lavin (Sr., Memphis, Jarrettsville, Md.)
Izzy Lee (Sr., Illinois, Western Springs, Ill.)
Anna Leschly (So., Dartmouth College, Brookline, Mass.)
Faith Leyba (Sr., Colorado, Phoenix, Ariz.)
Hope Leyba (Sr., Colorado, Phoenix, Ariz.)
Hailey Longwell (Jr., North Carolina-Wilmington, Coraopolis, Pa.)
Victoria Meza (Jr., Texas State, San Salvador, El Salvador)
Sydney Middaugh (Sr., South Carolina, Hesperia, Calif.)
Mia Minestrella (Sr., Duke, Redondo Beach, Calif.)
Joy Okonye (Sr., Brown, Lagos, Nigeria)
Kate Plachy (Jr., Saint Mary's College of California, El Dorado Hills, Calif.)
Julia Quinonez (Jr., Pepperdine, Torrance, Calif.)
Anna Rayhill (Sr., Harvard, New Hartford, N.Y.)
Ellie Rebmann (Sr., Auburn, Libertyville, Ill.)
Grace Restovich (Jr., Notre Dame, St. Louis, Mo.)
Kennedy Roesch (Jr., Northwestern, San Diego, Calif.)
Cameron Roller (Sr., Duke, Sherman, Texas)
Victoria Safradin (Sr., Virginia, Eastlake, Ohio)
Emerson Sargeant (Sr., Michigan State, Hartland, Mich.)
Amanda Schlueter (Sr., Ohio State, Union, Ky.)
Amelia Severn (So., Gonzaga, Shoreline, Wash.)
Izzi Stratton (Jr., North Carolina, Alpine, Utah)
Drew Stover (Sr., Wisconsin, Frisco, Texas)
Hannah Tate (Sr., Texas, Omaha, Neb.)
Ellie Walbruch (Sr., Brigham Young, Highland, Utah)
Ava Westlund (Sr., Minnesota, Arden Hills, Minn.)
Sydney Watts (Sr., Vanderbilt, Lenexa, Kan.)
Taylor Zdrojewski (Jr., Texas Tech, Celina, Texas)
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Three Spartans rank among the 63 Division I women's soccer players on the initial list.   Kennedy Bell (Charlotte, NC) makes her second straight appearance after earning a mid-season spot in 2025, while Emerson Sargeant (Hartland, Mich) and Kayla Briggs (Toronto, Ontario) each make the list for the first time.  This is the first time in program history in which MSU has had three make the preseason Watch List; MSU had two in 2025 (Maggie Illig and Bella Najera), with Bell joining the list when the mid-season additions were announced.
Presented annually since 1967, the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy is the most definitive and prestigious annual award in collegiate soccer. It is given to the top male and female collegiate soccer player each season - the soccer equivalent of college football's Heisman Trophy.  It is named for Robert R. Hermann, former Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and one of its founders. Â
Bell is just the second Spartan to make the list more than one time – Laura Heyboer was on the watch list in 2008, 2009, and 2010 and was on the list of finalists in 2008.  Â
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The trio is among an impressive group of Spartan upperclassmen who have all earned All-Big Ten, All-Region, and All-America honors.  Bell and Briggs were each Second Team United Soccer Coaches All-America picks in 2025 and Sargeant was an All-North Region honoree.Â
The Spartans, Colorado, Memphis, Notre Dame, and Wisconsin all have three Watch List athletes, the second-most behind Duke's four.  The Buffaloes come to DeMartin Stadium on Sunday morning for a rematch of the 2025 NCAA Sweet 16 matchup, while MSU will travel to No. 25 Notre Dame on Sept. 4. Â
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2026 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List (Aug. 26)
Valentina Amaral (Sr., Wake Forest, Oviedo, Fla.)
Azul Alvarez (Sr., Baylor, Round Rock, Texas)
Kennedy Ball (Sr., Arkansas, Lookout Mountain, Ga.)
Kennedy Bell (Sr., Michigan State, Charlotte, N.C.)
Hailey Baumann (Sr., Wisconsin, South Lyon, Mich.)
Caroline Birkel (So., Stanford, St. Louis, Mo.)
Kayla Briggs (Sr., Michigan State, Toronto, Ont.)
Alex Buck (Jr., Washington, Medina, Wash.)
Sofia Bush (Sr., Iowa, Marion, Iowa)
Bella Carapazza (Sr., Texas A&M, Tarpon Springs, Fla.)
Caroline Castans (Sr., Kansas, Flower Mound, Texas)
Annabelle Chukwu (Jr., Notre Dame, Ottawa, Ont.)
Katie Shea Collins (Jr., Duke, Gallatin, Tenn.)
Erin Connolly (Sr., Wisconsin, Clayton, Mo.)
Sam Courtwright (So., Duke, Dallas, Texas)
Summer Denigan (Sr., North Carolina, Union, Ky.)
Izzy Engle (Jr., Notre Dame, Edina, Minn.)
Samantha Erbach (Jr., Florida State, Lebanon, Ohio)
Bella Field (Jr., Arkansas, Leawood, Kan.)
Ava Galligan (Sr., Louisiana State, Ashburn, Va.)
Millie Greer (Sr., Iowa, Scottsdale, Ariz.)
Liv Grenda (Jr., Dayton, Perkasie, Pa.)
Sierra Giorgio (Sr., South Alabama, Vaughan, Ont.)
Kaya Hanson (Sr., Georgetown, Seattle, Wash.)
Ashley Henderson (Sr., Florida State, Memphis, Tenn.)
Jace Holley (Jr., Colorado, Fort Collins, Colo.)
Courtney Jones (Sr., Vanderbilt, Orlando, Fla.)
Annika Jost (Jr., United States Air Force Academy, Temecula, Calif.)
Lucy Kesler (Jr., Brigham Young, American Fork, Utah)
Ai Kitagawa (Jr., Memphis, Itami City, Japan)
Kameron Kloza (Sr., Texas-San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas)
Charlotte Kohler (Jr., Stanford, Woodside, Calif.)
Abby Kudla (Jr., Memphis, Strongsville, Ohio)
Ashlynn Kulha (Sr., Old Dominion, Holly Springs, Miss.)
Ginny Lackey (Jr., James Madison, Bolton, England)
Finley Lavin (Sr., Memphis, Jarrettsville, Md.)
Izzy Lee (Sr., Illinois, Western Springs, Ill.)
Anna Leschly (So., Dartmouth College, Brookline, Mass.)
Faith Leyba (Sr., Colorado, Phoenix, Ariz.)
Hope Leyba (Sr., Colorado, Phoenix, Ariz.)
Hailey Longwell (Jr., North Carolina-Wilmington, Coraopolis, Pa.)
Victoria Meza (Jr., Texas State, San Salvador, El Salvador)
Sydney Middaugh (Sr., South Carolina, Hesperia, Calif.)
Mia Minestrella (Sr., Duke, Redondo Beach, Calif.)
Joy Okonye (Sr., Brown, Lagos, Nigeria)
Kate Plachy (Jr., Saint Mary's College of California, El Dorado Hills, Calif.)
Julia Quinonez (Jr., Pepperdine, Torrance, Calif.)
Anna Rayhill (Sr., Harvard, New Hartford, N.Y.)
Ellie Rebmann (Sr., Auburn, Libertyville, Ill.)
Grace Restovich (Jr., Notre Dame, St. Louis, Mo.)
Kennedy Roesch (Jr., Northwestern, San Diego, Calif.)
Cameron Roller (Sr., Duke, Sherman, Texas)
Victoria Safradin (Sr., Virginia, Eastlake, Ohio)
Emerson Sargeant (Sr., Michigan State, Hartland, Mich.)
Amanda Schlueter (Sr., Ohio State, Union, Ky.)
Amelia Severn (So., Gonzaga, Shoreline, Wash.)
Izzi Stratton (Jr., North Carolina, Alpine, Utah)
Drew Stover (Sr., Wisconsin, Frisco, Texas)
Hannah Tate (Sr., Texas, Omaha, Neb.)
Ellie Walbruch (Sr., Brigham Young, Highland, Utah)
Ava Westlund (Sr., Minnesota, Arden Hills, Minn.)
Sydney Watts (Sr., Vanderbilt, Lenexa, Kan.)
Taylor Zdrojewski (Jr., Texas Tech, Celina, Texas)
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Players Mentioned
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