RUSTON, Louisiana – Louisiana Tech junior Erin Kipp earned one of the most prestigious honors awarded to collegiate student-athletes as the Lady Techster designated player was voted to the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-America second team on Thursday.
She was the only honoree from a Louisiana-based school and was one of two honorees from the Western Athletic Conference, joining New Mexico State outfielder Amber Olive.
“I am so excited about this award,” Kipp said. “As a college athlete, I know how hard it is to balance your grades and your (commitment to your team). When I decided to become a biology major, a lot of people told me I wouldn’t be able to keep my grades up due to (time restraints involving softball). This became a challenge to me, and I wanted to prove I could be successful in both the classroom and on the field at the same time.”
Kipp, who is scheduled to graduate this winter, became only the sixth LA Tech softball player – and the first since Paige England and Erica St. Romain in 1999 – to earn the prestigious honor. She became just the 16th LA Tech student-athlete to earn the honor and the second this year as she joins Bulldog football player Ray Holley who was named to the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-America first team back in the winter.
The Bullard, Texas native joins former Tech softball players Faith Holman (1986, 2nd team), Stacey Johnson (1986, 2nd team), England (1998, 2nd team; and 1999, 1st team) and St. Romain (1999, 2nd team) as the only members of the program to be voted onto the academic team.
Kipp earned the spot on the squad after a stellar junior season that saw her earn second team all-Western Athletic Conference honors as well as National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) second team all-Central Region honors. On the field, she batted .349 with 51 hits, 14 doubles, two triples and four home runs while scoring 27 runs and driving in 22 more. She registered a team-best .555 slugging percentage while also successfully stealing 11 bases in 15 attempts.
The two-time Academic All-WAC honoree (the league hasn’t released its team for the spring of 2013) also earned first team all-District 6 accolades after boasting a 3.82 grade point average in biology.
She helped lead the Lady Techsters to the program’s first winning season since 2010 as well as its highest finish ever in the WAC regular season standings as LA Tech earned the No. 3 seed in the league tournament.
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 18,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
