Named for second consecutive year

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – In her senior season, Alyssa Shirey has made her presence known beyond the south region throughout the entire nation.

At the Banquet of Champions in St. Joseph, Missouri, Wednesday night, Shirey was honored with all of the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association’s All-Americans across the country.

Shirey was named a First Team All-American by the NFCA to go with her first team regional honors and Gulf South Conference East Division Player of the Year award in 2010.

The senior catcher is no stranger to success as this is her second time to make the NFCA’s All-American list. In 2009, Shirey was named to the second team.

Shirey has been a monster for the Lady Blazers throughout the season with a team leading .416 batting average and 20 home runs on the season, good enough for fourth in the country. She is seventh in home runs per game and 18th in slugging percentage at .809.

She leads the team in runs batted in at 58 and is tied with teammate Amber Shaw to lead the team in hits at 72. She also leads the team in putouts (300), on-base percentage (.492) and hit by pitches (11).

Shirey looks to lead the Lady Blazers in the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament, which starts for VSU at 3:30 p.m. against Bloomsburg Thursday.

For the radio broadcast, fans can listen at Talk 92.1 FM, or go online at www.talk921.com. There will be live stats here, and the NCAA will also be webcasting games throughout the tournament here. CBS College Sports will broadcast the championship game on television.