Five Earn Horizon League All-Academic Honors
5/2/2024 2:00:00 PM | Softball
Indianapolis, Ind. – Five Youngstown State players earned Horizon League All-Academic honors, the league announced on Thursday.
Senior Jillian Jakse and graduate student Sara Fessler were named to the 2024 Valeo Horizon League All-Academic Team while seniors Sophie Howell and Conchetta Rinaldi, and sophomore Kennedy Dean earned Honorable Mention laurels.
Jakse, who was named to the all-academic team in 2023, owns a 4.0 grade-point average in civil engineering. Named 2021 Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-Horizon League, Jakse owns a .313 overall batting average and leads the team and the league with 35 RBIs.
Fessler, a 2023 All-Horizon League First-Team selection, posted an undergraduate grade-point average of 3.63 in business administration and owns a graduate GPA of 3.67 in marketing. Fessler owns a .324 overall batting average with nine home runs, which are tied for second in the Horizon League. This season leads the league with 42 runs scored and ranks second with 1.073 OPS.
Howell carries a 3.42 GPA in electrical engineering and leads the league with 21 wins and 173 strikeouts. She was also named Second-Team All-Horizon League and All-Tournament Team in 2023. Howell has 12 wins over league foes this season, and she has a 1.87 overall earned-run average, which ranks second in the league.
Rinaldi, owns a 3.69 GPA in exercise science, has appeared in 41 games this season and owns a .386 batting average with 18 runs batted in against league opponents. She also ranks seventh in the league overall with 28 RBIs and has a .311 overall batting average.
Dean, who carries a 3.87 GPA in business administration, was named Player of the Week on April 23. She ranks tied for third in the league with seven home runs and has 22 runs batted in.
