It's been quite the Monday for the Nova Southeastern softball program. After earning the No. 4 seed in the NCAA South Region Tournament in the morning, the Sharks have since landed a combined 12 All-Sunshine State Conference honors in the afternoon, including Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
The 12 total accolades are the most of any program in the league.
Tia Williams becomes the fifth player in program history to be named SSC Player of the Year, and the first since Suka Van Gurp took home the award in 2019. In 2022, the Land O' Lakes, Fla. native ranked among the Top-5 in the SSC in nine offensive categories, leading the league in both batting average (.389) and RBI (38) while tying for first in runs scored (41). She was recognized as the SSC Player of the Week on Apr. 11 and was a member of the Top-50 list for the 2022 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Year awards.
Julie LeMaire becomes the program's first-ever coach to be selected SSC Coach of the Year after guiding the Sharks to their first-ever share of the SSC title. After beginning the season with a 6-7 record, NSU has since won 31 of 36 games including a 23-4 mark in conference play during that span. The Sharks rattled off six SSC series sweeps to wrap up the regular season with 37 victories – the most in a single season since 2010.
Ashley Connor's SSC Freshman of the Year honor also goes down as the first in program history. In 26 appearances in the circle, Connor made 17 starts en route to a record of 17-3. Among those 17 starts, 15 were complete games – six of which were shutouts. Connor added three saves, while posting an ERA of 1.29 and a WHIP of .93 across 146.2 innings. She also tallied 94 strikeouts and limited opponents to a .200 batting average.
As expected, both Williams and Connor were also members of the All-SSC First Team, joined on the list by teammates Madison Fine and Sydney Lageyre. Ryleigh Langwell and Alexis Smith represented the Sharks on the All-SSC Second Team, with Connor, Lageyre and Langwell making the All-SSC Defensive Team as well.
Mary Beth Feldman of Tampa and Rollins' Ashley Worrell shared SSC Pitcher of the Year honors. Tampa's Lilly Kiester captured Co-Freshman of the Year honors alongside Connor.
For a complete list of the All-SSC softball awards, click here.
Recently announced as the No. 4 seed in the NCAA South Region Tournament, NSU will travel to Montgomery, Ala. to take on No. 5 seed Alabama Huntsville this Thursday at 2 p.m. For complete coverage, visit NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Instagram and Twitter at @NSU_Softball.
Original source can be found here.
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