April 30, 2008

Eagles land three on All-GLVC Team,
Loete, Wood earn first-team honors

2008 All-GLVC Team (pdf.)

2008 USI All-GLVC Performers

EAST PEORIA, Ill.—The University of Southern Indiana softball team had three players named to the All-GLVC Team, as announced by GLVC Commissioner Jim Naumovich at the GLVC Softball Awards Banquet Wednesday night. The All-GLVC Team was voted upon by the league's head coaches.

Senior leftfielder Kathy Wood (Lynnville, Indiana) and sophomore designated player Sara Loete (Pekin, Illinois) headlined the Screaming Eagles' All-Conference selections as the two were both named to the first team, while senior third baseman Kristin Eickholt (Van Wert, Ohio) was selected to the second team.

Kathy Wood

Wood finds herself on the All-GLVC team for the third consecutive year after earning second-team honors as a sophomore and a junior. She hit .390 with six doubles, a GLVC-best seven triples, and 14 RBIs. Wood was second in the conference in sacrifice bunts (16) and tied for second in GLVC-only games with a .440 batting average.

Sara Loete

In her first year with the Eagles, Loete led USI with a .408 batting average and the GLVC with a single-season school-record 53 RBIs. Loete, who finished the regular season ranked fourth in the conference in batting average, racked up nine doubles and a team-best nine home runs, just one shy of becoming the second player in school history to reach 10 home runs in a single season.

Kristin Eickholt

Like Wood, Eickholt finds herself on the All-GLVC list for the third time in her career after earning second-team honors as a sophomore and first-team honors as a senior. Eickholt hit .333 with a team-high tying 10 doubles in 2008. She also had six home runs, a triple, and 27 RBIs.

USI (31-24, 14-10 GLVC), which is ranked eighth in the latest NCAA II Great Lakes Region rankings, opens the GLVC Tournament against the University of Indianapolis Thursday at 10 a.m. at the EastSide Center in East Peoria, Illinois. The two teams opened GLVC play in March by splitting a doubleheader. The Greyhounds (34-24, 16-10 GLVC), which is the fourth seed in the GLVC Tournament, is ranked fifth in the latest regional rankings.

Dan McDonnell,
USI Sports Information