Academic All-District Teams

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – For the second-straight season Illinois softball junior catcher Stephanie Abello was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District First Team, the organization announced on Thursday (May 10).

The honor, which is selected by CoSIDA members, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be a varsity start or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30, and have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at her current institution. As a First-Team selection, Abello will be placed on the ballot for the Academic All-America Team, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be announced later this month.

An All-Big Ten Second-Team honoree this season, Abello has continued to be a consistent threat offensively for the Illini after earning NFCA All-Region First-Team and Big Ten All-Tournament Team plaudits in 2017. Heading into Thursday's first round Big Ten Tournament game, she sat in a tie for third on the team with a .361 batting average, while totaling 53 hits, including 10 doubles and four home runs, 42 RBI and 19 runs scored. She finished the regular season ranking eighth in the Big Ten in on-base percentage (.475), ninth in walks (26), 10th in RBI (42), 11th in hit by pitches (7) and 13th in batting average (.361). In league play, the Batavia, Ill., native paces the Illini and ranks eighth in the Big Ten with 22 RBI.  

Abello and the sixth-seeded Illini continue B1G Tournament play on Friday (May 11) when they face off against No. 3 seed Indiana at 1:30 p.m. CT at the Goodman Softball Complex.

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