BERKELEY – California's Arielle Ship and Samantha Witteman added to their impressive 2015 award hauls Friday when they were named National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Americans, the organization announced.

Ship and Witteman join an exclusive group of Golden Bears in becoming the 13th and 14th NSCAA All-Americans in program history. It marks the first time since 1989 that two Golden Bears were selected for the top honor in the same season. They are the second and third under the tutelage of California Head Coach Neil McGuire, who also coached Alex Morgan to first team honors in 2010.

The Bears are one of just two Pac-12 teams to earn two All-Americans this season, joining USC as programs to have two players selected for the top honor.

“This has been one of my lifelong dreams,” Ship said of the honor. “To be able to share this honor with one of my fellow Golden Bears who's an amazing teammate, I'm not sure I can find the right choice of words to express the gratitude that I am feeling.”

“This is such a huge honor and words can't describe how thankful I am to my team and coaches for an amazing senior year,” Witteman added. “To finish my college career with this honor is an incredible feeling. It is so great that Ari and I have been recognized by coaches across the country, and it has been amazing playing together this season. I look forward to following her success, as well as this team, in the future. This team and program are going to do amazing things, and I'm thankful I got the opportunity to be a part of it these past four years!”

Ship had a breakout season that saw her was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year in an All-American campaign that was rivaled by no other in the league. The junior exploded offensively with 14 goals, 34 points and six game-winning goals – all top marks in the league – as she became the first Golden Bear to lead the league in points and goals since Laura Schott did so in 2000 and 2001. She also dished six assists, good for third in the Pac-12. Ship netted two hat tricks on the year, earned two Pac-12 weekly honors, four national weekly honors and was also named the consensus National Player of the Week on September 9 when she was selected as the country's top player by the NSCAA, TopDrawerSoccer and ESPNW. Her seven-point outing against UCLA with three goals and one assist goes down as the third-best single-game performance in program history.

Witteman was also a First Team All-Pac-12 selection having proven herself to be one of the most versatile players in the conference this season. The senior earned at least one start in seven different positions in Cal's 21 games this season, but made herself known as one of the most dangerous outside backs in the conference in a season that saw her score four goals, with all four of them being game-winners, in addition to leading one of the top defenses in the Pac-12. Overall, Witteman had a hand in five of Cal's 13 game-winning goals, finishing second in the league in scoring four winners to go alongside a game-winning assist.

California All-Time NSCAA All-Americans
Celia Simpson – 1981 (3rd Team)
Lesle Gallimore – 1982 (3rd Team), 1983 (2nd Team), 1984 (1st Team), 1985 (2nd Team)
Katharin Gustafson – 1983 (3rd Team), 1986 (3rd Team)
Tucka Healy – 1983 (3rd Team), 1985 (3rd Team)
Trudi Sharpsteen – 1984 (2nd Team)
Joy Biefeld Fawcett – 1987 (1st Team), 1988 (1st Team), 1989 (1st Team)
Denise Garcia – 1987 (2nd Team)
Kathy Ridgewell – 1987 (3rd Team)
Valerie Pope – 1988 (2nd Team), 1989 (2nd Team)
Erika Hinton – 1993 (2nd Team)
Laura Schott – 2000 (1st Team)
Alex Morgan – 2010 (1st Team)
Arielle Ship – 2015 (2nd Team)
Samantha Witteman – 2015 (3rd Team)