Tag: All-Conference Team

Eight Saints softball players named to RRAC All-Conference Team

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) announced the 2023 RRAC Softball All-Conference Team and Player of the Year awards on May 4. Coaches determined the selections, with those on the first team being eligible for NAIA All-America consideration at the completion of the season.

2023 RRAC Softball All-Conference Team

The Saints ended the regular season with a 28-0 RRAC record and are now 43-4 overall with a 34-game winning streak. The Saints – the NAIA’s No. 2 team, Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) – won three of five top awards of the year and placed six on the all-conference first team and one on the second team.

The Saints’ Cassandra Valdez won RRAC Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year awards for the second year. Head Coach Bruce Lenington was selected as Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.  

OLLU’s Valdez, Joanna Gonzalez, and Madison Nunn received first-team honors for the third straight year. Joining them on the first team are Rebecca Duran, Madison Garza, and Ariel Montgomery. Caitlin Terrazas repeated as a second-team selection. Angela Ramirez was her team’s Champions of Character winner.

The following are current, significant stats (top five) for all the honorees:

RRAC Player of the Year and RRAC Pitcher of the Year – Cassandra Valdez: She dominated the circle with 21 wins and 291 strikeouts – both conference-bests. She was also third in the conference in ERA (1.53). As a hitter, Valdez batted .398 (fifth in the conference) with a conference-best 13 home runs and conference second-best 39 RBIs. Her other stats include first in runs (38), first in slugging percentage (.864), fourth in hits (47), fifth in batting average (.398)

RRAC Coach of the Year – Bruce Lenington: In his fourth year at OLLU, Lenington guided the Saints to a 43-4 mark for the season so far. OLLU leads the conference with 327 runs, 93 doubles, 64 home runs, 302 RBIs, 148 walks, .426 on-base percentage and .609 slugging percentage. The Saints are also first in strikeouts with 291. They are second in hits with 385, triples with 28, and batting average at .334. The Saints are second in innings pitched with 279.2 and in ERA at 1.70. Finally, the Saints are first in overall fielding percentage at .970.

Rebecca Duran – first in runs (38), fifth in hits (45), fourth in doubles (13)

Madison Nunn – first in RBIs (40), second in home runs (10), second in slugging percentage (.792), fifth in runs (35), first in fielding percentage (1.000)

Madison Garza – third in slugging percentage (.675), fourth in doubles (14)

Caitlin Terrazas – first in hit-by-pitch (19), third in home runs (8)

Joanna Gonzalez – fourth in putouts (207)

Ariel Montgomery – fourth in home runs (7), fourth in RBIs (35)

Angela Ramirez – 16-0 record

Five Saints baseball players selected to All-Conference Team

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) announced the 2023 RRAC Baseball All-Conference Team and player of the year awards May 4. Coaches determined the selections, with those on the first team being eligible for NAIA All-America consideration at the completion of the season.

2023 RRAC Baseball All-Conference Team

The Saints ended the regular-season with a 20-9 RRAC record and are now 29-18 overall – they’ve won their last seven games. They won one of the top awards, plus they placed one on the all-conference first team, three on the second-team and one on the Gold Glove team.

Alec Martinez earned All-Conference First-Team Honors as the Saints top pitcher. Caimyn Holiday, Jackson Kalisky and Joshua Mendez captured Second-Team and Gold Glove honors. Chase Dunn was the team’s Champions of Character representative.

Kalisky was named the RRAC’s Freshman of the Year.

The following are current, significant stats (top five) for all the honorees:

RRAC Freshman of the Year – Jackson Kalisky: He is having a phenomenal first year with the Saints, recording the most home runs with 12 and the most RBIs with 68 in the conference – both OLLU season records. His 68 RBIs is a tie for fourth all-time at OLLU with his brother Connor Kalisky, who played on the team from 2015-2017. Kalisky is second in the conference in slugging percentagear with .716.

Caimyn Holiday – His 51 hits are fifth best in the conference, and he has the third most doubles in the conference with 16.

Alec Martinez  – He has a 6-2 record – third in the conference – and he leads the team in ERA at 2.20 the second best in the conference.

Joshua Mendez – He has the fifth most strikeouts in the conference with 62, and he is sixth in the conference in ERA with 3.73. He has a 1.000 fielding percentage.

Chase Dunn – He has two saves this season and has won two games for the Saints.

Five Saints selected to Women’s Soccer 2022 Red River Athletic Conference All-Conference Team

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) announced the 2022 RRAC Women’s Soccer All-Conference Team. Postseason award winners were voted by the conference’s head coaches.

Named to the All-Conference First Team is Deanna Tarango. She was part of the First-Team in 2020.

Madison Herrera has been named to the Second Team. In 2019, she received Honorable Mention honors and in 2020 and 2021, she was named to the First Team.

Receiving Honorable Mention are Kyleigh Spree-Kolos and Rachel Dziuba. Spree-Kolos was part of the Second-Team in 2020 and the Honorable-Mention Team last year. Dziuba is also the team’s Champions of Character selectee.

Kaitlyn Olivas is selected to the All-Freshman Team.

Several Saints receive All-Conference Honors

Baseball’s Brandon Betancourt was selected Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Freshman of the Year, while four other members of the Saints team were selected to the All-Conference Team.

The conference’s coaches made the selections on the eve of the RRAC championship tournament, and the awards were presented between games at Sterlington Sports Complex on May 6.

2022 RRAC Baseball All-Conference Team

OLLU placed three players on the first team, including repeat first-team winners Jacob Mitchell and Brett Vasquez, as well as Robert Arredondo. Receiving Gold Glove recognition was Jacob Montejano, who also was the team’s Champions of Character winner.

Betancourt shares his Freshman of the Year Award with LSU-Alexandria’s William Vice. Betancourt, an outfielder, batted .386 in his first college season and drove in 19 runs.

Jacob Mitchell led the team in runs with 47, hits with 54, doubles with 17, homers with 11, RBIs with 49 and slugging with .741. He has a .378 batting average and a .497 on-base percentage.

Robert Arredondo leads the team in at-bats with 170, and he has the second-most hits with 52 and is tied with the most walks with 35. He is batting .306 and has an on-base percentage of .428 and a slugging percentage of .359.

Jacob Montejano has 48 runs, 42 hits, 10 doubles, 20 RBIs, 35 walks, a .457 on-base percentage and a .426 slugging percentage. He has 55 putouts, 89 assists and 13 double plays. 

Brett Vasquez has pitched in 84 innings and has 27 earned runs with 129 strikeouts. His ERA is .289.

Nine volleyball players earn All-Conference Team honors

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) announced the 2021 Volleyball All-Conference Team and Players of the Year.

The Saints had a spectacular 11-1 mark in RRAC play this season. Madelynn Strzelczyk (SO/Marion, Texas) was awarded Player of the Year, Setter of the Year and earned First-Team honors. She assisted on 819 plays and averaged 10.64 assists per set.

Camila Ramirez (FR/El Paso, Texas) earned Attacker of the Year and First-Team honors. She led the Saints with 276 and 806 total attacks. Tina Trevino (FR/Laredo, Texas) took home Defender of the Year, Freshman of the Year and First-Team honors. Trevino tallied a team-leading 404 digs and averaged 4.99 per set.

Sadie Ballesteros (JR/Atascosa, Texas) was awarded First-Team recognition. Ballesteros was third on the team with 162 kills and committed only 48 errors.

Daisy Cantwell (SO/San Antonio, Texas), Cassidy Haller (SO/Cibolo, Texas) and Tijana Kruta (SR/Bar, Montenegro) were awarded Second-Team honors. Cantwell had 234 kills, Haller tallied 137 kills, and Kruta led the Saints with 39 total blocks.

Alyssa Gallardo (SR/San Antonio, Texas) was an Honorable Mention and Champions of Character. Gallardo was second on the team with 175 kills and was a consistent leader on the court. 

Megan Montalvo (SO/San Antonio, Texas) also was named to the Honorable Mention team. Montalvo played in all 23 matches and had 19 service aces.

Men’s soccer awarded 11 All-Conference team honors

The Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) announced the 2021 Men’s Soccer All-Conference Team and Players of the Year.

Norberto Lira (SR/Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico) was awarded First Team honors. The senior had five goals during the regular season for the Saints with two assists. He also tallied 15 shots on goal.

Juan Martin Chica (SR/Cali, Colombia), Said Salas (FR/El Paso, Texas), Javier Pena (JR/San Antonio, Texas), Patrick Pye (SR/Norwich, England) and Joseph Baker (JR/Llantwit Major, Wales, U.K.) made the Second Team. Chica led the team with seven goals. Salas tallied three goals, Pena recorded nine shots, Pye was an integral part of the defense, and Baker made 46 saves with two shutouts. Salas also made the All-Freshman Team.

Newcomer Michael Huff (SO/San Antonio, Texas) and defender Connor Bagley (JR/Norwich, Norfolk, U.K.) were presented with honorable mentions. Huff had one goal and Bagley worked with Pye to deliver lockdown defense. Carlos Beltran (SR/San Antonio, Texas) was named a Champion of Character and had one goal with one assist.