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University of Illinois Athletics

2024 Softball Roster

Illinois Fighting Illini
Illinois Fighting Illini
Ashley Steltenpohl / Wisconsin Athletics
Illinois Fighting Illini

45 Serena Starks

  • Position Outfielder
  • Height 5-8
  • Class Graduate Student
  • Hometown Huntington Beach, Calif.
  • High School Edison HS
  • Prev School Princeton
  • Instagram seriri_45

Biography

NIL OpportunitiesĀ 

GRADUATE STUDENT - 2024

  • Preseason Top-45 Outfielder according to D1 Softball
  • Played in all 52 games, making 49 starts in the outfield
  • Slashed .260/.299/.314
  • Recorded 33 hits and scored 29 runs
  • Had six multi-hit games
  • Posted a season-best three hits and four runs scored against Cal Poly (2/24/24)
  • Recorded a double against Mizzou (3/13/24), Michigan (3/17/24) and Ohio State (4/26/24)
  • Tallied a triple against Purdue (4/13/24)
  • Logged an RBI on seven different occasions
  • Put down four sacrifice hits
  • Posted a .989 fielding percentage with 91 putouts, two assists and just one error

SENIOR - 2023 (PRINCETON)

  • Won Ivy League Player of the Year honors, becoming the first Princeton player to win the honor since 2008
  • Tri-captain
  • Earned first-team All-Ivy League and first-team NFCA all-region honors
  • Ivy League all-tournament team
  • Led the Ivy League with a .397 average and 69 hits
  • The 69 hits were the most for a Princeton player since 1996
  • Won Ivy League Player of the Week honors twice
  • Had hits in 38 games and had 23 multi-hit games
  • Drove in two runs in the series opener against Harvard (4/2/23)
  • Homered against LehighĀ (3/12/23)


JUNIOR -Ā 2022 (PRINCETON)

  • First-team All-Ivy League
  • Honorable mention All-ECAC
  • Had a team-high .355 batting average on the season, leading the team with 54 hits
  • Played in all 46 games and started 45, all in the outfield
  • Had hits in 34 games, including all three games of the Ivy League Playoff Series and both NCAA tournament games, against Arkansas and Wichita State
  • Had 16 multi-hit games on the season and four three-hit games
  • Went 6-for-9 (.667) in the Ivy Playoff Series, closing it with a 3-for-3 day with two runs scored as Princeton clinched the NCAA tournament bid
  • Drove in four runs apiece against Yale (4/17/22) and Penn (4/24/22), homering in the Yale game Ā 


SOPHOMORE - 2021 (PRINCETON)Ā 

  • Started all three games in the outfield
  • Had hits in each of the season's first two games, including a double against Villanova (4/29/21) and two hits in the opener against Drexel on (5/4/21).


FRESHMAN - 2020 (PRINCETON)

  • Hit .529 (9-17) on the shortened season, playing in six games and starting four, all in left field
  • Had hits in five of six games played, including each of the last four games played
  • Had two hits against Georgetown (2/28/20) and went 4-for-5 with three RBI and a double against Morgan State (3/1/20)


HIGH SCHOOL

  • Sunset League coaches' pick for Athlete of the YearĀ 
  • 2019 Orange County Athletic Directors Association Athlete of CharacterĀ 
  • Member of the Edison Hall of Fame
  • 2019 Edison Athlete of the Year honoree
  • First-team All-Sunset League in 2017 and 2018Ā and second-team all-league in 2019 as selected by league coachesĀ 
  • 2018 second-team All-Orange County
  • Played in the 2019Ā Orange County all-star game
  • Seven-time Sunset League and Edison Scholar-Athlete
  • Won the Edison Character Award for softball in 2017Ā and the 2019 Edison ASB Character AwardĀ 
  • 2018 MaxPreps National Honor Roll athleteĀ 
  • Earned second-team All-Sunset League honors in soccer in 2018Ā and was a 2019Ā team captain and co-MVP
  • Earned soccer teamĀ Most Inspirational Award in 2019Ā and Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2018
  • Earned school's Charger of the Year academic honor and was the school's 2019 commencement speaker
  • Earned school's 2019Ā Golden Key honor for Athlete of the Year
  • Earned Most Outstanding honors with the school's Model United Nations club as a freshman, junior and seniorĀ 
  • Earned several awards for community service, including the President'sĀ Volunteer Service award, the Girl Scouts of Orange County's Take Action award, andĀ the Girl Scout's Gold Award
  • Was an ambassador for Humanity Rising and was a Best Buddies of Edison High School President in 2018-19
  • Played travel ball with Tony Rico's Firecrackers.

Statistics

Season Statistics

Season Statistics

No statistics available for this season.

Career Statistics

There are no statistics available for this player.