Hunterdon Central's Anna Davis voted Courier News Athlete of the Week

Hunterdon Central's Anna Davis is the quintessential team player. Try asking her any questions about herself, and it always circles back to the team. 

As a varsity player the past two years on the girls soccer team, Davis has gone above and beyond to help Hunterdon Central win, from playing off the bench during the Red Devils' NJSIAA Group IV title run last year to stepping into a starting role this year. 

"She’s a really an aggressive player and she has just tremendously improved over the last two years," Hunterdon Central coach Jeannine Calhoun said. "She’s a starter and we were needing her to play lots of minutes and she’s really stepped up and played really big on both sides of the ball. She’s a midfielder so she’s obviously had an impact on the offense, and she’s a really good ball winner both in the air and on the floor, she’s been a good two-way player for us in the midfield."

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Davis, a senior, is the first Courier News Athlete of the Week after being selected in an online poll. She beat seven other athletes from numerous sports with 34.56 percent of the vote. 

Against Watchung Hills last Saturday, Davis scored the game-winner on a header off a corner kick by Maddy Brennan with 25 seconds remaining in double overtime. It was her first goal of the season. 

"In general I’ve always loved headers, it’s my favorite part of the game, getting up there and smashing it in," Davis said. "I’ve always been small to so being able to sneak up on the ball like that has been fun."

But of course Davis wasn't about to take all the credit.

"Maddy Brennan, her kick was amazing, she set us up for success with that," she added. 

She also added two assists in a 2-0 win over Phillipsburg on Tuesday.

"Anna has just been one of those players that has been super important in terms of stepping into really big shoes, and she’s just tremendous in the air," Calhoun said. "She can get up in a sea of people against players that are significantly taller and she finds a way to win the ball. She has very good body control and she times her jumps very well, it’s a natural instinct for her. She’s been great for us defensively and then she’s had an impact on the stat sheet offensively. There’s so many things that midfielders do that they don’t get credit for on the stat sheet and she’s doing those things as well."

As of Thursday Hunterdon Central was 4-1 on the season despite losing three players to ACL injuries. According to Calhoun, the Red Devils have been moving players around in order to find the right mix to help the team fill the holes lost to injury. So far, Davis and the rest of the team have been doing a great job. 

"It was hard for the team I think, but it wasn’t just me," Davis said. "As a team we had to step up and work hard to push through it. I just feel like our coaches are amazing and we have excellent girls and such a great support system, everyone around us has made it easy for us, there’s so much encouragement."

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: lknego@gannettnj.com; on Twitter: @laurenknego