FULLERTON, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton continued to bring in the awards on Thursday with sophomore Julia Valenzuela and freshman Deshea Hill taking home NFCA All-Region Third Team honors.
Valenzuela has been absolutely stellar this season, especially on defense throwing out 36% of would-be base stealers and only allowing six passed balls in 56 games. There were only six innings this season where the sophomore was not behind the dish for the Titans. Offensively, her bat came alive in conference play. She finishes the regular season with a .327 average in Big West play to go along with a team-leading 15 RBI. This is Valenzuela's second accolade this season after being named to the All-Big West Second Team earlier this week.
Hill made her presence known in her rookie season leading the team with a .377 overall batting average, which was third-best in the Big West. The freshman also ranked tied for second on the team in hits (52), fourth in doubles (8), third in RBI (28), fourth in total bases (66), second in slugging percentage (.478), and tied for first in on-base percentage (.426). This will be her fifth award this season after being named to the All-Big West First Team and Freshman Team go along with two Big West Field Player of the Week awards this season as well.
NFCA All-Region Teams
First Team:
P Giselle Juarez (Arizona State)
P Taylor McQuillin (Arizona)
P Cielo Meza (Long Beach State)
C Dejah Mulipola (Arizona)
1B Alyssa Palomino (Arizona)
2B Kylee Perez (UCLA)
3B Brianna Tautalafua (UCLA)
SS Jessie Harper (Arizona)
OF Aaliyah Jordan (UCLA)
OF Bubba Nickles (UCLA)
OF Kindra Hackbarth (Arizona State)
UT/P Rachel Garcia (UCLA)
DP Taylor Rowland (Long Beach State)
Second Team:
P Holly Azevedo (UCLA)
P Alex Formby (SDSU)
C Niki Gonzalez (Grand Canyon)
1B Danielle Gibson (Arizona State)
2B Reyna Carranco (Arizona)
3B Sierra Smith (Grand Canyon)
SS Briana Perez (UCLA)
OF Naomi Hernandez (Long Beach State)
OF Morgan Howe (Arizona State)
OF Erika Hansen (Nevada)
UT/P Janine Petmecky (UNLV)
DP Callee Heen (Hawai'i)
Third Team:
P Lindsey Chalmers (Cal Poly)
P Breanna Macha (Arizona State)
P Hannah Bandimeire (Loyola Marymount)
P Brianna Aguilar-Beaucage (Grand Canyon)
P Makayla Shadle (Utah Valley)
C Julia Valenzuela (Cal State Fullerton)
1B Mia Trejo (UNLV)
2B Marisa Stankiewicz (Arizona State)
3B Teaghan Cowles (Stanford)
SS Savannah Horvath (CSUN)
OF Aleah Craighton (Arizona)
OF Ashleigh Hughes (Arizona)
OF Samantha Owen (Pacific)
OF Hannah Howell (Stanford)
UT/P Hailey Reed (Pacific)
DP Deshea Hill (Cal State Fullerton)