NIACC's Olive earns NFCA player of year honor

• Olive earns NFCA NJCAA Division II player of year honor
• Northern Iowa recuit wins Golden Show Award for 2nd straight year

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Another day, more honors for NIACC sophomore Katy Olive by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association.

On May 27, Olive earned NFCA NJCAA Division II first-team all-Midwest Region honors as a shortstop.

On May 31, Olive earned NFCA NJCAA Division II first-team all-American honors as a shortstop.

On Monday, Olive won two major NJCAA Division II individual awards by the NFCA by winning the TUCCI/NFCA Player of the Year honor while also collecting the New Balance/NFCA NJCAA DII Golden Shoe Award for the second straight season as the division's top base stealer.

It is the third time that a NIACC player has won the NFCA Golden Shoe Award. The Trojans' Kendall Cornick was the 2016 NFCA Golden Shoe Award winner.

"Katie's overall athletic talent is second to none," NIACC coach Matt Egger said. "Winning the Golden Shoe award (nations best in stolen bases) twice, 1^st Team All-American, NJCAA Region II Offensive Player of the Year and National Player of the Year tops off a remarkable career. I'm just glad she chose NIACC so we didn't have to play against her.

"She does naturally have tons of power and can really run but those awards she has won is a testament to her work ethic. I haven't seen many people put the work in (on and off the field ) like Katy did these last two years.  She really bought into what we are trying to do with the program."

Olive hit .472 and was ranked tied for third in NJCAA DII with 27 home runs to go along with 20 doubles, 81 RBI, 92 base hits and 95 runs scored.

On the base paths, Olive led NJCAA DII with 70 stolen bases in 75 attempts. Olive swiped four bases on three separate occasions and registered three steals three times. Olive's hits, runs scored, RBI and steals are all single-season program records.

"We were lucky to have Katy around for the last two years," Egger said, "and not just only for the tremendous softball talent, but she is even a better individual. She is a hard-working, great student. She was also a student ambassador in admissions and also resident assistant in housing on top of being a student-athlete."

Olive, who is f rom Minneapolis, will play next season at the University of Northern Iowa.

"She had a great career and we look forward to watching her at UNI," Egger said. "Our program and campus will miss her, including the rest of the sophomores who helped continue to build this program."    

DMACC's Courtney Donahue was voted the TUCCI/NFCA NJCAA DII Pitcher of the Year, while Louisburg College's Taylor McQueen was named Diamond Sports/NFCA NJCAA DII Catcher of the Year.

Donahue struck out 386 batters, 103 more than the next pitcher in NJCAA DII and posted a 26-4 record with a 0.94 ERA in 186.2 innings of work. She also topped the division in shutouts (12), strikeouts per seven innings (14.48), complete games (25) and WHIP (0.56), while she ranked third in victories (tie) and ERA and fifth in batting average against (.115).

McQueen, the first-team NFCA All-America catcher, keyed the Hurricanes to a NJCAA DII Softball World Series appearance, where they posted a 2-2 record. She batted .357 with 14 doubles, 13 home runs, 50 RBI and 63 runs scored. McQueen walked 31 times and recorded a .459 on-base percentage. Behind the dish, only seven runners attempted to steal all season and she threw out three of those.

The awards are voted on by the elected members of the NFCA NJCAA Division II All-American Committee with two head coaches representing each of the three NJCAA Division II regions. To be eligible, a student-athlete's head coach must be a member.