Golden Eagles land three All-Americans

Three-sport star Alexys Cleaver (volleyball, women’s basketball, softball) closed out her freshman year by earning NJCAA first-team All-American honors after leading the Golden Eagles with a .406 batting average, 48 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases as the catalyst at the top of the RVC lineup. Cleaver made it a clean sweep of awards by also earning all-conference, all-region, and all-region all-tournament team honors.

Cleaver was joined by teammates Vanessa Krull and Shawna Nelson, each of whom achieved second-team All-American status. Krull also won the Player of the Year award for the conference and, like Cleaver, was also selected all-conference, all-region, and all-region all-tournament team. She went 18-6 with a microscopic 1.28 ERA, while striking out 122 in 147 innings. Nelson was second on the team with a .398 batting average, second in runs scored with 45, and hit .455 in four games at the national tournament. She was also an all-conference and all-region selection.

With the additions of Cleaver, Krull, and Nelson, RVC Softball has now had eight All-Americans in its history, while overall, 121 RVC athletes have achieved the honor.

RVC Softball post-season honors

NJCAA All-American: Alexys Cleaver (1^st team), Vanessa Krull (2^nd team), Shawna Nelson (2^nd team)

N4C All-Conference: Alexys Cleaver, Whitney Jones, Vanessa Krull (Player of the Year), Kylee Morris, Shawna Nelson, Katie Spaniol

Region IV All-Region: Alexys Cleaver, Vanessa Krull, Shawna Nelson, Katie Spaniol

Region IV All-Tournament Team: Alexys Cleaver, Vanessa Krull, Kylee Morris, Jennifer Repp