Durant and Abbott receive Women’s College World Series All-tournament Honors

Duo helped Tennessee to second straight third-place national finish A pair of Lady Vols have been rewarded for their efforts during No. 5 Tennessee’s (61-12) run to a third-place national finish at the 2006 Women’s College World Series by receiving WCWS All-Tournament honors. Junior pitcher Monica Abbott and senior designated player Kristi Durant each reaped a choice to the 12-member team to mark the fourth and fifth selections in school history. Following the 2005 event in Oklahoma City, Abbott, Katherine Card and Tonya Callahan were each tabbed to the all-tourney squad. Three-time first-team Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-American Monica Abbott posted a 3-2 record with a 1.51 ERA, five complete games and 48 strikeouts in 37 innings of work on collegiate softball’s grandest stage. The 6-3 lefthander struck out 11 hitters in UT’s 4-3 upset of No. 1 UCLA during the Big Orange’s opening contest, punched out 15 batters against eventual national finalist No. 11 Northwestern, retired 10 by strikeout in a 3-1 (9 inn.) triumph over No. 9 Arizona State and saved her finest effort for national champion No. 3 Arizona by two-hitting the Wildcats in a 1-0 win to force a deciding elimination game for a berth in the best-of-three championship series. The Salinas, Calif., product has struck out 10 or more batters in a single contest on a remarkable 85 occasions in her three-year career and completed the 2006 campaign with 1,716 strikeouts to currently rank fourth in NCAA Division I history. Durant, a first-team Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-American for the second consecutive season, proved one of Tennessee’s most dependable hitters at the WCWS. The Placentia, Calif., native hit a team-best .333 (5-of-15) at the dish despite still recovering from a herniated disc injury to her back that forced her out of the line-up for over a month during the regular-season. The 5-5 designated player was a sterling 2-for-4 with two crucial RBI during UT’s late-inning comeback from a 2-0 deficit to register a 4-3 upset of No. 1 UCLA in the squad’s WCWS opener. Durant also delivered a 2-for-3 effort in a 3-1 (9 inn.) triumph over No. 9 Arizona State to stave off the Lady Vols’ elimination. She completed her career in the Orange & White with a .388 batting average, a Southeastern Conference-best 203 RBI and a school-record 315 hits.