SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO - After winning its second straight WCC Softball Championship, LMU picked up a pair of the five West Coast Conference major awards as announced by the Conference on Tuesday. The Lions also placed four players on the All-WCC First Team.
LMU’s Jenna Perez won WCC Pitcher of the Year for the second straight year, while her head coach Tairia Flowers also won WCC Coach of the Year for the second straight time.
The remaining three major awards went to BYU in the Cougars' final year in the WCC. Huntyr Ava won WCC Player of the Year, while Ailana Agbayani won WCC Defensive Player of the Year and Hailey Morrow won WCC Freshman of the Year.
All of the major individual awards and the all-conference teams were voted on solely by the WCC's head coaches.
Flowers led LMU to its second straight WCC Softball Championship, and the first as outright champions. The Lions earned the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament after finishing one game better than BYU in the WCC standings. LMU will compete in the Stanford Regional this weekend.
One of the WCC's top power hitters in 2023, Ava led the WCC in RBI (45) and ranks ninth in the nation in RBI per game (1.15). Ava also led the WCC in home runs with 13, and ranks 14th in the nation in home runs per game (0.35). She ended the 2023 season with a .350 batting average and a .797 slugging percentage.
Once again the league's most-dominant pitcher, Perez ranked 1st in the WCC in ERA (2.09). She also topped the WCC in strikeouts with 221 and saves with four. Her strikeout total also ranks 13th in the nation, and she owns 46 more Ks than the second-ranking WCC pitcher in that category. Perez's 13 wins also rank second in the WCC.
Agbayani notched a fielding percentage of .952 with 55 putouts and only seven errors. She was one of only two Cougars to start all 48 games in 2023.
In her first year at BYU, Morrow finished third on the team in batting at .314. She also belted nine home runs, which tied for second in the WCC. Her 37 RBI ranked third. Most recently, Morrow slugged a 12th-inning home run in the first game of the final series of the regular season, lifting BYU to its final win of the season at Saint Mary's.
2023 WCC Softball Major Awards:
Coach of the Year - Tairia Flowers, LMU
Player of the Year – Huntyr Ava, BYU
Pitcher of the Year – Jenna Perez, LMU
Defensive Player of the Year – Ailana Agbayani, BYU
Freshman of the Year – Hailey Morrow, BYU
2023 WCC Softball All-Conference First Team
Ailana Agbayani, BYU
Huntyr Ava, BYU
Morgan DeBord, LMU
Madison Earnshaw, San Diego
Izzy Jamgotchian, LMU
Kaysen Korth, BYU
Izzy Owen, San Diego
Jenna Perez, LMU
Sydney Poole, LMU
Ashley Trierweiler, Santa Clara
Avrey Wolverton, Saint Mary's
Violet Zavodnik. BYU
2023 WCC Softball All-Conference Second Team
Maddie Bejarano, BYU
Emma Bickford, Santa Clara
Mikalyn Emanuelli, San Diego
Martha Epenesa, BYU
Hannah Ferguson, Saint Mary's
Allyson Ferreira, Santa Clara
Taylor Lane, Saint Mary's
Hailey Morrow, BYU
Morgan Salmon, Santa Clara
Chloe Temples, BYU
Tristen Turlington, BYU
Odhi Vasquez, Saint Mary's
2023 WCC Softball All-Conference Honorable Mention
Allie Capello, Pacific
Hannah Edwards, Santa Clara
Emma Giaime, San Diego
Hazyl Gray, Santa Clara
Savannah Hooks, LMU
Jessica Hubbard, LMU
Taylor Keinath, Saint Mary's
Carly Lucchetti, Pacific
Marissa Montelongo, Saint Mary's
Courtney Rose, San Diego
Delaney Scully, Pacific
Jasmine Sofowora, LMU
Amanda Ta'Amu, LMU