2025 COLLEGE SPORTS COMMUNICATORS ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN TEAM®
Ottumwa, IA – Sophomore Ava Smith (Waukee, IA/Waukee Northwest) of the Indian Hills Softball team has been named a 2025 Second-Team Academic All-American®, announced by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Tuesday.
Smith is one of just 20 individuals across the country to be named to the Academic All-American® Women's At-Large College Division which recognizes student-athletes from two-year and colleges and universities as well as Canadian institutions.
Smith helped guide the Warriors to the 2025 Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) regular season championship and the No. 1 overall seed in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) DI Softball Region 11 Tournament. Smith produced a breakout sophomore campaign for the Warriors, leading the ICCAC with a .489 batting average, the eighth-best single season performance in school history. Smith also boasted a league-best .548 on-base percentage while finishing second overall with an .883 slugging percentage. The sophomore first baseman ranked second in the ICCAC with 12 home runs and third overall with 48 RBI.
Smith hit safely in 37 of her 46 games played on the year, including three separate hitting streaks of at least seven games. The sophomore produced a career-best 15-game hitting streak from March 1-April 7. Smith tallied 22 multi-games on the year, including seven games with at least three hits.
Academically, Smith has twice been named to the NJCAA All-Academic team as well as a two-time member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America Scholar-Athlete team. Smith is a four-time selection to the ICCAC Academic All-Region First-Team.
Smith will continue her academic and athletic career at Winona State University (MN) next season.
Along with Smith, Indian Hills Volleyball sophomore Ana Carolina Westerich (Blumenau, Brazil/Colégio Energia) was named to the 2025 CSC Academic All-American® First-Team and Indian Hills Women's Wrestling sophomore Angelica Vicente Gonzalez (Cidra, Puerto Rico/Eugenio Guerra Cruz) was named to the 2025 CSC Academic All-American® Second-Team. The trio become just one of five females in Indian Hills Athletics history to earn the prestigious CSC Academic All-American® distinction.
Read More: Westerich Named First-Team Academic All-American®
Read More: Gonzalez Named Second-Team Academic All-American®
SMITH'S FILE
- 2025 ICCAC DI Softball Offensive Player of the Year
- 2025 NJCAA All-Region 11 First-Team
- 4x ICCAC DI Softball Athlete of the Week
- 2025 CSC Academic All-American® Second-Team
- 2025 CSC Academic All-District®
- 2025 NJCAA All-Academic Third-Team
- 2024 NJCAA All-Academic First-Team
- 2x NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete
- 4x ICCAC Academic All-Region First-Team
- Committed to Winona State University (MN)
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