The Wolverines maintain a string of three straight seasons of collecting the Offensive, Defensive and Player of the Year honors. Blake follows former Wolverine April Fronzoni, who picked up Offensive accolades in 2002 and 2003, while Hillman succeeds former teammate Stephanie Johnson who was named Defensive Player of the Year the last two seasons. Blake has tallied 18 goals, ranking second in the Conference with 2.26 points per game, while Hillman leads a Wolverine defense that ranks third in the League in goals allowed per game (1.37).

Hortillosa also becomes just the second Wolverine standout in Conference history to earn Player of the Year accolades as Fronzoni collected the honor in 2003. Anchoring the Wolverines' midfield, Hortillosa tied for the Conference lead in assists with 11, while ranking first in game-winning goals (6) this season.

Wood is the fifth Nittany Lion to be named Freshman of the Year and the first since Tracey Larson garnered freshman laurels in 1996. Wood currently leads the PSU squad in shot percentage (2.31) and ties for fourth with 13 points. Iowa's Griesbaum took home her first Coach of the Year award after guiding the Hawkeyes to their first Conference title since 1999 and ninth Big Ten crown in school history. Iowa is currently ranked No. 14 in the latest STX/NFHCA national rankings and enters this year's Big Ten Tournament as the No. 2 seed.

The 2004 All-Big Ten First Team features four unanimous selections including Iowa's Sarah Dawson, Michigan's Hortillosa, and Michigan State's Annebet Beerman and Veerle Goudswaard, while Iowa's Barb Weinberg was the only player that repeated as a First Team choice after collecting her third consecutive accolade.

The Conference office also announced honorees from each team for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Honorees for field hockey are Indiana's Katie Kanara, Iowa's Weinberg, Michigan's Kate Dillon, Michigan State's Michelle Carstens, Northwestern's Kelly Augustine, Ohio State's Curlyne Wynn and Penn State's Amanda Eckert. These seven student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the Conference office will select one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.