FOND DU LAC - Three student-athletes from the Marian University softball program have been named Academic All-District by the organization College Sports Communicators.

The Academic All-America program run by CSC is considered one of the most prestigious awards as it is one of the few awards that combines academics and athletics.  To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average at their current institution.  The student-athlete must also be at least a sophomore and have been attending their current institution for a full calendar year. 

Junior Katelyn Matenaer (West Bend, Wis.) adds this award after earning a spot on the All-NACC Second Team already this offseason.  She had another big season in the heart of the Marian lineup finishing the regular season second in the conference for runs batted in with 35 to go with a .627 slugging percentage.  Matenaer was sixth in the NACC with her six home runs, while her 74 total bases was good for eighth at the end of the regular season.  Defensively at shortstop, she committed just nine errors on 128 total chances for a .930 fielding percentage.  Matenaer earned one NACC Player of the Week award this season after leading Marian to wins over Northland and UW-Stevens Point to open the season.  In that twin bill, Matenaer went 3-for-4 in each game with three home runs, eight driven in, and a 2.125 slugging percentage.  Matenaer is an exercise and sport science major with a 3.76 grade point average.

Senior Emalee Depa (Mount Prospect, Ill.) closed out a strong career at Marian both in the classroom and on the field.  Depa recently graded with a degree in exercise and sport science with a 3.96 grade point average.  She was a strong weapon both in the circle and at the plate once again this season.  Depa went 8-12 on the season in the circle with a 3.60 earned run average over 134.0 innings of work with nine complete games.  At the plate, she hit .265 on the season and ranked second on the team with 22 runs driven in.  Over her final seven appearances of the season, Depa went 3-3 in the circle with a 1.35 earned run average over 41.1 innings of work with a shutout and a save as well.  She finishes her career eighth all-time for wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched, and second all-time for saves.

Sophomore Kerena Wood (Green Bay, Wis.) provided consistency to the Sabre lineup all season long.  Wood is also an exercise and sport science major with a 3.60 grade point average.  She finished the season with the second-highest batting average on the team at .357 and ranked third on the team with 18 runs driven in.  Wood also had six doubles and three home runs to put her slugging percentage at .510.  She led the team this season with a .442 on base percentage.  Wood had 10 games with multiple hits and had five performances where she drove in multiple runs.

The full release and team from CSC can be found at https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/cosidaallamerican.sidearmsports.com/documents/2023/5/16/Acad_Softball_2022_23.pdf.  For more information on the CSC Academic All-America program please visit https://academicallamerica.com/.