Hello Illini Fans!

My name is Brianna Nykaza and I am a sophomore infielder from Chicago, Illinois. I am a psychology major planning on focusing on the sports side so that I can use what I learn on my players when I coach when I am older. The mental game is very important in softball and I want to help my players as much as I can.

This past week we have been very happy with our opening weekend performance, especially with our sweep against the University of Michigan. Most of us have just been getting our voices back after cheering during our very exciting games. This weekend helped the team solidify the idea that it doesn't matter what the name is on the opposing team's chest. We believe that we can beat anyone and that we will beat anyone that tries to underestimate us. We are continuing to get better every day so that we make the most out of this strange season due to Covid-19. It took some time during the offseason to adjust but I think that the pandemic has made us stronger and closer as a team.

We did not have any games this weekend but we utilized this time to scrimmage each other and get better. This time helped us reflect back on our goals as a team and make adjustments so that we make next weekend even better than our first. This upcoming weekend we play Michigan State and Penn State back in Leesburg, FL. We are very excited to have another great weekend and can't wait to play some softball after not being able to for almost a year.

This is just the beginning of a great season!

I-L-L

Brianna Nykaza #39