Bringing you news and notes coming from the Missouri Valley in women's sports from both the athletic field and the classroom as soon as news breaks.

News and Notes From the Missouri Valley Softball Diamond

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association has announced 380 student-athletes from 146 programs have received 2025 NFCA Division I All-Region accolades.

The awards honor softball student-athletes from the Association’s 10 regions with first, second and third-team selections. NFCA member head coaches from each respective region nominated student-athletes (eight maximum) and voted for the teams. All awarded student-athletes now become eligible for the 2025 NFCA Division I All-America squads.

The Missouri Valley Conference placed 9 student-athletes on the All-Region teams with three being named to the first, second, and third teams. UNI earned three honorees, while Belmont and Southern Illinois earned two honorees. Illinois State and Missouri State earned a single honoree.

Conference players and pitchers of the year from member institutions (must be nominated by member head coach and receive votes) are added to the third team if they were not already voted to an All-Region squad. Additionally, in some instances, limited regional nominations prevented a position from being filled.

The 2025 NFCA Division I All-America teams, voted on by the NFCA DI All-American Committee, will be announced on Wednesday, May 28th.

South Region
P - Maya Johnson, Belmont - First Team
SS - Nicole Hughes, Belmont - Third Team

Midwest Region
1B - Abby Knight, Illinois State - First Team
3B - Kate Lappe, UNI - First Team
P - McKenzie Newcomb, Southern Illinois - Second Team
SS - Kylee Sanders, UNI - Second Team
UT/P - McKenzie Vaughan, Missouri State - Second Team
OF - Emma Austin, Southern Illinois - Third Team
DP or UT/Non-P, Addison McElrath, UNI - Third Team

The league's Most Valuable Player is UNI's Kate Lappe. She led the league in batting with a 0.506 average, slugging percentage (1.114), and on-base percentage (.619) in conference play. In MVC games, Lappe had a league-best 40 hits, 25 walks, and tied best 13 homers with a second-best 31 RBI.

Belmont's Maya Johnson earned the league's Most Valuable Pitcher award. During MVC games, Johnson led the conference in ERA (1.24), opposing batting average (.168), strikeouts (214), and tied for first with 14 wins. Johnson's 214 strikeouts is the second highest in a conference season in MVC history. Nationally, Johnson led all Division I pitchers in strikeouts (320) and shutouts (11).

SIU's Anna Carder earned Defensive Player of the Year. Carder has caught four players stealing, while only allowed seven players to steal a base on her watch in MVC play.

Emily Williams earned the Newcomer of the Year. In league play, Williams tied for first in home runs (13), was second in slugging (.886), and led the league in RBI (45) in Conference games.

Rylee Spindler earned the MVC's Freshman of the Year award. Spindler had a .383 batting average, .485 on-base percentage, and 20 runs scored in league play.

Southern Illinois, led by the Coaching Staff of the Year and head coach Jen Sewell, claimed its sixth regular-season MVC Championship. SIU has five total softball titles, with three tournament titles (2021, 2023, 2024) and now back-to-back regular-season titles (2024, 2025). The Salukis won the regular-season title with a 21-5 league mark.

All-MVC First Team
C Anna Carder, Southern Illinois
1B Emma Dighton, Drake
1B Abby Knight, Illinois State
2B Delainey Bryant, Illinois State
2B Skylar Benesh, UNI
3B Kate Lappe, UNI
3B Rylee Spindler, Belmont
SS Kylee Sanders, UNI
SS Jackie Lis, Southern Illinois
OF Emma Austin, Southern Illinois
OF Mikaela Coburn, Southern Illinois
OF Katy Huels, Murray State
P Maya Johnson, Belmont
P McKenzie Newcomb, Southern Illinois
DP/UT Addison McElrath, UNI
DP/UT Emily Williams, Southern Illinois
DP/P McKenzie Vaughan, Missouri State

All-MVC Second Team
C Niki Bode, Evansville
C Alexis Perales, Missouri State
1B Addi Baker, Southern Illinois
2B Kenley Minor, Murray State
3B Ashley Breeding, Bradley
SS Nicole Hughes, Belmont
OF Maddy Balsiger, Belmont
OF Ava Curry, Drake
OF Baie Ensio, Belmont
OF Morgan Goodrich, Indiana State
OF Kierston McCoy, Bradley
P Hailey Griffin, Indiana State
P Hannah Meshnick, Illinois State
P Anna Wischnowski, UNI
DP/UT Sami Miller, Drake
DP/P Sydney Kennedy, Bradley
DP/P Azalya Lopez, Valparaiso

MVC All-Defensive Team
Brenna Blume, Belmont
Addie Welsh, Bradley
Emma Dighton, Drake
Taylor Howe, Evansville
Sequoia Sanchez, UIC
Julia Larson, Illinois State
Lauren Marsicek, Indiana State
Emily Gerardy, Missouri State
Bailey Broemmer, Murray State
Ella Smithson, UNI
Anna Carder, Southern Illinois
Kim Rodas, Valparaiso