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GREENSBORO, N.C. – For the second year in a row, the Virginia Tech softball team led all league squads in members honored as the conference announced the 2014 All-ACC Academic Softball Team. Tech led the league with six members in 2013 and again led the league in 2014 with six more honorees. Senior Dani Anderson (graduated; human nutrition, foods and exercise), along with junior Kylie McGoldrick (marketing), sophomores Kelly Heinz (management), Katey Smith (mechanical engineering) and Maggie Tyler (communications) and freshman Vanessa Gonzalez (human development) were named to the squad for the Hokies this year.

Boston College senior Tory Speer was named the 2014 ACC Softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. A communications major from Trabuco Canyon, California, Speer was a All-ACC Second Team selection this past season, as she had a .355 batting average, 12 home runs, 48 RBIs and a slugging percentage of .717. Speer was a recipient of the ACC Postgraduate Scholarship and was a four-year recipient of the Athletic Director’s Award for Academic Achievement. Speer, a catcher, started all 53 games during the 2014 campaign and was a NFCA Mid-Atlantic Second Team selection.

Each of the ACC’s 11 schools that support softball is represented on this year’s All-ACC Academic Team, led by Virginia Tech with six representatives. Florida State, which represented the ACC at the 2014 Women’s College World Series, had four honorees, followed by Boston College, North Carolina, NC State and Notre Dame with three each. Georgia Tech, Syracuse and Virginia had two representatives apiece, while Maryland and Pitt rounded out the field with one each.

Four student-athletes, Florida State’s Jessica Nori, Georgia Tech’s Alysha Rudnik, Anderson and Speer, were named to the All-ACC Academic Team for the fourth time. A total of nine student-athletes, including McGoldrick, were recognized for the third time.

Anderson was awarded an NCAA Women’s Enhancement Program Postgraduate Scholarship for Careers in Athletics. As a recipient of the scholarship, she will receive a $7,500 non-renewable award to be used during the 2014-15 academic year. The Rio Linda, California, native has been admitted to Sacramento State’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program and will begin her studies in the fall.

The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards were established in September 2007 to be awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports. Candidates for the awards must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average for their career as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters.

You can find the entire release here.

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