TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) – Two highly-accomplished Florida State softball players in seniors Kelly Hensley and Jessica Nori were recognized on Monday afternoon for being National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-America Scholar-Athletes.
In order to be nominated to the list, a softball student-athlete had to achieve a 3.50 grade point average or higher during the 2012-13 academic year. Hensley is an exercise science major who was recently accepted into the FSU Medical School program and carried a 3.858 GPA. Nori, who is a redshirt senior and double majoring in entrepreneurship and professional sales, recorded a 3.688 GPA in the last academic year.
“I always love seeing our players earn recognition for their academic achievements,” head coach Lonni Alameda said. “Kelly and Jessica are two of the finest people I have ever coached. They both have worked hard in their careers to make themselves good players on the field, but more importantly they have set goals for themselves outside of the sport. It’s rewarding to watch their hard work get recognized and I am extremely proud of them.”
Over 4,000 softball student-athletes from across seven different divisions were chosen as NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes. Hensley, who is from Niceville, Fla., had her best season as a Seminole in 2013 when she delivered a .315 batting average with 13 home runs, 54 RBIs, 110 total bases and a .618 slugging percentage. The hard-working utility player was named a Capital One Third Team Academic All-American and won Co-MVP honors on the team. She was also chosen as the ACC Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Nori hails from Weston, Fla., and began her softball career as a team manager before becoming a steady and fast-throwing pitcher. Nori was named to the Capital One Softball Academic All-District IV First Team this past year and also earned a spot on the ACC Softball All-Academic Team. Nori has totaled 13 wins and five saves in her Seminole career.
FSU softball continues its fall schedule by playing at JoAnne Graf Field in Tallahassee this Saturday, Oct. 12, with two games at 10 a.m. and noon. The first contest features a Garnet-Gold scrimmage, followed by a noon matchup against Northwest Florida State.
Stay tuned to Seminoles.com as well as Florida State softball’s Twitter handle (@FSU_Softball) and Facebook page (Facebook.com/FSUsoftball) to keep up with all the offseason coverage heading into the 2014 year.
