EAST PEORIA, Ill. – Members of the No. 1-ranked UIndy softball team received a plethora of honors at the 2013 GLVC Softball Championship Tournament Awards Reception Thursday night.  The Greyhounds took three of the four major awards, including GLVC Player of the Year, which sophomore Casey Williamson garnered for the second straight year.

Also taking home hardware Thursday were GLVC Freshman of the Year Morgan Foley and GLVC Coach of the Year Melissa Frost-Fisher.  In addition, six Greyhounds landed on the All-GLVC First Team, while two appeared on the second team.


Williamson became just the sixth student-athlete to repeat as the league's top player, and the first since UIndy's Megan Russell was tabbed Player of the Year in 2009 and 2010.  Williamson tops the GLVC in most offensive categories, including on-base percentage (.526), slugging (.845), hits (73), runs scored (55), runs batted in (50), triples (6), total bases (136) and stolen bases (34).  The Bishop Chatard grad is also second in the league in batting average (.453) and doubles (15) and is tied for third in home runs (12).

Williamson's honor marks the sixth time a Greyhound has earned Player of the Year accolades, as she and Russell join Tricia Neely (1990) and Julie Joseforsky (1991) as UIndy honorees.

Foley continues UIndy's streak of GLVC Freshman of the Year honorees.  Following current-teammates Cori Eckerle in 2011 and Williamson in 2012, Foley took the conference's top newcomer honor after an impressive rookie season in the circle.  The Louisville, Ky., native has compiled a tidy 1.13 ERA while setting a new school record for strikeouts with 284.  Her win total (25) is good for second in the nation, while her hits allowed per game (3.3) and strikeouts per game (11.4) are good for third and fourth, respectively.

In addition to Eckerle and Williamson, former Greyhounds Lauren Booten and the aforementioned Megan Russell won back-to-back GLVC Freshman of the Year honors in 2006 and 2007.

After leading the Greyhounds to a stellar 48-4 overall record and 28-2 mark in conference play, Frost-Fisher earned her second consecutive Coach of the Year award and third overall (2010).  Only one other Greyhound mentor has been recognized as the league's top coach, as current UIndy V.P. for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Sue Willey garnered the award in 1989.

The league also handed out all-conference awards Thursday night, as a total of 58 student-athletes from both the GLVC East and West Divisions earned all-league accolades.  UIndy and GLVC West-champ Missouri-St Louis each placed a league-high eight players on the list.

Joining Williamson and Foley on the All-GLVC First Team were 2012 GLVC Pitcher of te Year Jennifer DeMotte, senior first baseman Bailey Wittenauer, senior third baseman Kelsey Rummel and sophomore designated player Taylor Russell.  Freshmen Jenny Thompson (catcher) and Erika Goodwin (outfield) landed on the second-team register.

Thursday's reception was held in conjunction with the 2013 Mizuno/GLVC Softball Championship Tournament.  Defending-champ UIndy earned the top seed this season and open the tourney with a first-round meeting against No. 8-seed Saint Joseph's Friday morning at 11 a.m. Eastern.  Click here to view the tournament's homepage.


2013 ALL-GLVC HONOREES

First Team, East Division	Second Team, East Division
1B – Bailey Wittenauer, Sr., UIndy	1B – Kelsey Ullrich, So., LEWIS
2B – Stephanie Winters, So., SJC	2B – Tabby Shewmaker, Fr., BU
SS – Michelle Vucsko, Sr., LEWIS	SS – Janna Green, Fr., USI
3B – Kelsey Rummel, Sr., UIndy	3B – Madi Ratliff, Sr., BU
C – Scarlett Powers, So., BU	C – Jenny Thompson, Fr., UIndy
OF – Casey Williamson, So., UIndy#	OF – Erika Goodwin, Fr., UIndy
OF – Jayme Hefler, Sr., LEWIS	OF – Kylie Weeks,  Jr., SJC
OF – Lauren Hanford, Sr., LEWIS	OF – Kaitlyn England, Fr., USI
DP – Taylor Russell, So., UIndy	DP – Kelsey Jankowski, Jr., USI
UT – Ally Foster, Fr., BU	UT – MacKenzi Dorsam, So., USI
P – Jennifer DeMotte, Sr., UIndy	P – Kelly Bowler, So., LEWIS
P – Morgan Foley, Fr., UINDY	P – Ali Brems, So., LEWIS
P – Brooke Harmening, So., USI	P – Sarah Jo Franklin, Sr., SJC
First Team, West Division	Second Team, West Division
1B – Brianna Butler, So., UMSL	1B – Brooke Carroll, Sr., UIS
*2B – Brittany Madsen, Jr., WJC	2B – Shelby Steinkamp, Jr., MU
*2B – Katie Wood, So., UMSL	SS – Sarah Gray, Sr., UIS
*SS – Natalie Johnson, Sr., RU	3B – Alex Jacobson, Jr., RU
*SS – Haleigh Jenkins, Sr., UMSL	C – Madison Zbaraschuk, So., UMSL
3B – Jordyn Amos, So., UIS	OF – Regina Norris, Sr., DU
C – Kaylea Smith, Sr., S&T	OF – Jena Boudreau, So., UMSL
OF – Stacy Razo, Sr., DU	OF – Ashleigh King, Jr., UMSL
OF – Ashley Barrett, Jr., WJC	*DP – Ashleigh Roscetti, Sr., QU
OF – Rachel Potvin, So., WJC	*DP – Demi Plathe, Fr., RU
DP – Faith Song, So., WJC	*UT – Katelyn Weaver, Jr., UIS
UT – Rachel Hayden, Jr., WJC #	*UT – Andi Davis, Fr., S&T
*P – Becca Strope, So., S&T	*P – Cheyanne Bowman, Fr., UIS
*P – Hannah Perryman, Fr., UMSL#	*P – Laruen Francis, Sr., QU
*P – Brittni Chapman, So., UMSL	*P – Julie Jouglard, Sr., MU
*P – Wendy Macias, So., QU	*P – Sydney Fairfield, Fr., RU
2013 GLVC PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Casey Williamson, Indianapolis
2013 GLVC PITCHER OF THE YEAR:  Hannah Perryman, Missouri-St. Louis
2013 GLVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:  Morgan Foley, Indianapolis
2013 GLVC COACH OF THE YEAR:  Melissa Frost-Fisher, Indianapolis

<sub># indicates unanimous selection
* indicates tie</sub>