May 28, 2014
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame sophomore Micaela Arizmendi (Huntington Beach, Calif./Mater Dei), freshman Karley Wester (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) and junior Emilee Koerner (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) officially capped their sensational 2014 softball seasons by receiving National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division I All-America honors, the NFCA announced on Wednesday. Arizmendi, at first base, and Wester, in the outfield, were each tabbed to the NFCA All-America second team, while Koerner was selected as an outfielder for the NFCA All-America third team.
With its three total All-America selections, Notre Dame tied consensus national No. 1 and Women’s College World Series top seed Oregon, Auburn and Washington for the most All-America recipients among all teams at the Division I level of the NCAA.
The Irish trio became the 23rd, 24th and 25th overall All-America choices in Notre Dame’s 26-year program history. Arizmendi and Wester are two of only five Irish All-America second team selections since 2001, joining Kristin Schmidt (2001), Amy Buntin (2012) and Koerner (2013). Wester is also just the second freshman All-American in Irish history, along with Schmidt’s 2001 honor.
Notre Dame has now had a total of eight student-athletes earn second team All-America honors since Terri Kobata became the first Notre Dame player to receive the accolade in 1995.
Along with her second team citation last season, Koerner became one of only seven multi-time Notre Dame All-Americans all-time. The Irish center fielder joined Megan Ciolli (2004 and 2005, third team), Kobata (1994 third team, 1995 second team), Andrea Loman (2002 and 2003, third team), Katie Marten (1995 and 1996, third team), Jarrah Myers (2001 and 2002, third team) and Jennifer Sharron (2000 second team, 2001 third team) as two-time Irish All-America performers.
Arizmendi enjoyed a breakout season as the Notre Dame first baseman, coming off a 2013 rookie campaign when she was named to the all-BIG EAST third team. The lefty slugger finished second in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with 61 RBI and tied for second with 17 doubles, fourth with a .790 slugging percentage and 15 home runs, and sixth with a .382 batting average. Arizmendi posted the Irish team lead in home runs and RBI, and chipped in a team-high 21 multi-RBI games, along with the third-most multi-hit games (20) among all Notre Dame batters this season.
An NFCA Mid-Atlantic all-region and all-ACC first team choice, Arizmendi led all league hitters with 33 RBI and a 1.111 slugging percentage, chipping in the second-highest batting average (.508) and home run total (9), and the third-most hits (32) and on-base percentage (.543) in only 19 conference starts in 2014.
Wester compiled what was one of the greatest freshman seasons by a Notre Dame player in program history. Along with being a top three finalist for the NFCA Division I National Freshman of the Year award, Wester led all ACC hitters with a .455 batting average, 81 hits, four triples and 26 stolen bases. She also set the Irish pace with a .517 on-base percentage and six outfield assists in 54 games played, along with 25 multi-hit games. A total of 45 of Wester’s 81 hits were credited as infield singles, and the Irish slap hitter also added two doubles and 28 RBI to her offensive statistics.
An NFCA Mid-Atlantic all-region and all-ACC first team selection, Wester paced the ACC in three major statistical categories during league play, batting a conference-best .521 (37-for-71) with 37 hits and three triples in 21 ACC starts. She added the second-best on-base percentage (.575) in the conference, stealing the third-most bases (10) in ACC competition.
Koerner claimed NFCA all-region first team honors for the second straight year, following a stellar 2013 sophomore season that landed her not only as a second team NFCA All-American, but a top 10 finalist for the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year award. The Irish center fielder ranked third among all ACC players with a .433 batting average in 2014. She was the NCAA leader with 28 doubles, to go along with 74 total hits, three triples, 11 home runs, 51 RBI, a .825 slugging percentage, a .495 on-base percentage and 65 runs scored. Koerner also ranked second on the Irish with 21 multiple-hit games and 15 multi-RBI games this season.
Koerner’s 28 doubles and 65 runs scored in 2014 each established Notre Dame single-season records, with the doubles mark falling just one shy of tying the all-time NCAA record of 29 doubles in an individual campaign. She became the Irish career leader in doubles (61) during her junior season, and her .401 career batting average is the highest among all players in program history who have logged at least 300 at-bats. Koerner was named to this season’s all-ACC second team after batting .424 with nine doubles, five home runs, 20 RBI and 28 runs scored in 21 conference starts.
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— Tony Jones, Media Relations Assistant