May 7, 2008

2008 Softball All-Conference Awards

IRVING, Texas - Conference USA announced its 2008 All-Conference first, second and all-freshman teams, along with individual postseason award winners for softball today, as selected by the conference's head coaches. The awards were announced at the pre-tournament banquet one day before the start of the 2008 C-USA Softball Championship. The event is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, May 8-10, at the Cougar Softball Stadium on the campus of the University of Houston.

Marshall senior Rachel Folden earned C-USA Player of the Year and All-Conference USA first-team recognition after having another strong year both offensively and defensively. Folden was also the league's Player of the Year in 2006. The catcher is C-USA's statistical leader in almost every major offensive category and was named C-USA Player of the Week three times in 2008 and six times in her career.

Houston's Angel Shamblin garnered Pitcher of the Year accolades for a C-USA record third consecutive year after winning 15 games in league play for the second straight season. Shamblin was also a first team selection and was honored with 15 career weekly pitching honors and a record tying six in 2008. Shamblin has 16 total career weekly honors as both a hitter and a pitcher, which ties the career record set by Lindsay Chouinard of DePaul (2000-04).

Cougar head coach Kyla Holas was named Coach of the Year for the second straight year after leading her team to its second consecutive C-USA regular season title. Led by Holas, Houston earned the program's first ever national ranking and her team has been ranked in the Top 10 for most of the season. Holas' Cougars became the fourth team in C-USA Softball history to win 20 league games and the first team since DePaul in 2002 and 2003 to win to win every league series during the regular season in back-to-back seasons.

Jennifer Klinkert from the top-seeded Cougars claimed Freshman of the Year Honors. Klinkert is hitting .333 on the season and is tied for second on the team with 13 home runs, the third most home runs in UH single season history.

Marshall's Kelly Nielson and UCF's Marquita Council shared home the Newcomer of the Year award. Nielson started every game for the Herd at shortstop and hit eight doubles and knocked in 51 RBI on the season. Council ties for the top spot in C-USA in sacrifice bunts and ties for ninth in hits. She recorded 15 multi-hit games in 2008.

Regular season champion Houston led the way with 11 All-Conference selections, with the Cougars placing four student-athletes on the first team and three on the second team. UH also had an All-Freshman honoree and claimed three specialty awards. Marshall, UCF and UTEP each had two first team selections.

The 2008 C-USA Softball Championship gets underway on Thursday with five games at the Cougar Softball Stadium beginning at 9 a.m. Semifinal action will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday with the C-USA Softball Championship game to be played on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. LIVE on CBS College Sports. For live streaming links and complete tournament information, please visit the league's official website: www.ConferenceUSA.com.