Itta Bena, Miss. — The Mississippi Valley State Devilettes softball team, four-time defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champions, ranked 65th amongst 118 reporting Division I academic programs as announced by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.
Holding the top spot, for the second straight year, was St.
Bonaventure University with a team grade point average of 3.622, while Mississippi Valley State came in with an overall GPA of 3.153.
Individually, in a congratulatory letter to head coach Lee Smith, five- time SWAC Coach of the Year, Lacy Lee Baker, executive director of the NFCA announced that five Devilettes had been recognized for work in the classroom as NFCA All-America Scholar Athletes.
Celebrating excellence in the classroom as well as on the field a student-athlete must have acquired at least a 3.5 GPA or higher during the academic year to qualify for consideration.
Nicole Henderson (Sr., P, Vancouver, BC, Canada, Biology), received this honor for the third consecutive year. Megan Hayes (C,
Houston,TX) and Nikki Stouder (P, Dallas, OR) are back-to-back recipients, while Brittany Jo Franklin and Erica Hardin are first time honorees.
The NFCA All-Academic teams and scholar-athletes are based on cumulative grade-point averages submitted by NFCA member head coaches for the 2005-2006 academic year.
