Softball Leads SUNYAC Teams in NFCA Academic Award

October 19, 2010

STARKVILLE, Miss. (Oct. 19, 2010) --The SUNY Plattsburgh softball team led all State University of New York Athletic Conference programs with a 3.230 grade-point average during the 2009-10 academic year and three Cardinals earned girls got game/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete citations, according to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association web site.

Plattsburgh ranked 64th overall, or in the top-85 percent of 409 schools that compete in NCAA Division III softball. Geneseo was the second SUNYAC school in the all-academic team rankings, 65th overall.

"I am so proud of our players. We have always been a team that is strong academically, and I am happy that we have been able to keep that tradition going," Plattsburgh coach Stephanie Zweig said. "They are student-athletes with "student" coming first, and it is important that we always remember that."

First baseman Ashley Napear (Burke, Va./Robinson High School) led the Cardinals with a career-high .347 batting average during her senior year. Her best offensive season also included team highs of 42 hits, 11 doubles, three home runs, 24 runs batted in, a .529 slugging percentage and a .436 on-base clip. In the field, Napear committed just four errors on 283 chances for a .986 fielding percentage. She was named to the All-SUNYAC Team, received the SUNYAC Spring Chancellor’s Scholar-Athlete Award in the sport and is both a three-time academic all-conference and NFCA Scholar All-America honoree.

A junior-to-be catcher from Warwick, N.Y. (Warwick Valley HS), Erin Florkiewicz improved her batting average 100 points from her freshman year of .199. Florkiewicz had a career year offensively that included eight doubles, two home runs and 19 RBI. She started in all 41 of the Cardinals' games after serving as a back-up in 2009. The two-time NFCA Scholar All-American is also a two-time academic all-conference and Commissioner's List choice. She posted a stellar .990 fielding percentage, making just three errors in 306 chances.

Tanya Fedyshyn was named Academic All-SUNYAC/Commissioner's List and NFCA Scholar All-America as a sophomore right-handed pitcher in 2010. The Waterloo (N.Y.) High product made 18 relief appearances and had a SUNYAC-leading four saves.

All told, the Cardinals have produced 33 NFCA Scholar All-America recipients since 2000.

For the complete NFCA release, click on the following link: http://www.nfca.org/pagebank/?id=1695.