Jan. 27, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Sophomore Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) and senior Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) have been named to the watch list for the ninth-annual USA Softball Player of the Year Award, announced today (Jan. 27) by the Amateur Softball Association.
Monka is one of only six sophomores named to the 50-person list, which is comprised of players representing 35 schools and 14 NCAA Division I conferences. NU is one of The USA Softball Player of the Year Award is designed to recognize outstanding athletic achievement by female collegiate softball players across the country.
Monka was selected as the first baseman on the 2009 NFCA All-America first team and also was the only freshman on the 12-member ESPN.com All-America team. She was named the 2009 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and was the Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week on April 21 of last year.
Monka batted .392 as a freshman, finishing second in the nation in home runs per game (0.41), third in slugging percentage (a school-record .900), fourth in RBIs per game (1.15) and fifth in total home runs (an NU-freshman-record 19). She also broke the school record with hits in eight-consecutive at bats from April 15-18, 2009 -- a streak that is tied for ninth in NCAA Division I history.
Delaney also was a member of the watch list in 2009 after being named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2008. A six-time Big Ten Pitcher of the Week, she has finished in the top-10 in the nation in wins and top-11 in strikeouts in each of the last two years.
Delaney enters her final collegiate season with an 85-25 career record, 28 shutouts, six no-hitters, 965 strikeouts and a .173 opponents' batting average. She is on pace to break career records at NU for wins and strikeouts after pitching nearly 90 percent of Northwestern's innings in 2009.
The ASA will announce the 25 finalists for the award on April 7. A player does not have to appear on this initial watch list to be considered as a top 25 finalist. However, once the top 25 finalists are named the winner of the award will come from that list.
For the complete 2010 watch list, link to USAsoftball.com.