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University of Illinois Athletics

2023 Softball Roster

Libby Knight / Illinois Athletics

39 Brianna Nykaza

  • Position Infielder
  • Height 5-3
  • Class Senior
  • Hometown Chicago, Ill.
  • High School Whitney M. Young Magnet
  • Prev School NC State
  • Instagram bri.nykaza
  • Twitter BriannaNykaza

Biography

Graduation Badge University of Illinois Graduate

Senior - 2022

  • Academic All-Big Ten
  • Appeared in 21 games, making nine starts
  • Slashed .200/.267/.314 for the yea
  • Posted a pair of hits against Fordham (2/11/23)
  • Logged a pair of doubles against the Rams (2/11/23) 
  • Scored a run at Houston (2/24/23) 
  • Earned a pair of walks against the Cougars (2/24/23)
  • Recorded a stolen base at Houston (2/24/23)

Junior - 2022

  • Academic All-Big Ten
  • Appeared in four games for the Illini primarily as a pinch hitter
  • Went 1-for-1 with two RBI vs. Minnesota (4/3/22)
  • Competed for the Greek National team in the 2022 European championship in Barcelona, Spain
  • Earned team MVP after batting .500 with 10 runs, 6 rbi, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 5 walks and 1 stolen base in 10 games

Sophomore - 2021

  • Appeared in four games
  • Pinch hit appearances against Michigan State, Nebraska, Indiana and Ohio State

Freshman - 2020

  • Played in two games in her first season with the Illini
  • Made her Illini debut against NC State (2/15/20)

Freshman (at NC State) - Fall 2019

  • Started collegiate career at NC State in fall 2019 before transferring to Illinois at the start of the spring semester

High School

  • Was selected to play for the Greek National Team in 2018 in the U22 European Championship in Slovakia, where she compiled a .500 batting average, as well as the Super Six Tournament in Amsterdam and the 2019 European Championship in the Czech Republic
  • A standout at Whitney Young Magnet High School, she finished her career as the single-season record holder for hits* (73), batting average* (.658), RBI* (65) and doubles* (27) from her sophomore season in 2017 and is the State of Illinois record holder for doubles (90). *does not hold these records anymore
  • Finished her high school career with a .546 batting average with 249 hits, 90 doubles, 217 RBI and 194 runs
  • Four-time Chicago Public League All-Conference honoree
  • Three-time Illinois High School Association (IHSA) All-State, including first-team as a senior, second-team as a sophomore and third-team as a junior
  • In addition to helping Whitney Young to its first-ever softball Chicago City Championship her freshman year, Nykaza helped lead WMYMHS to two more city championships in her sophomore and senior seasons, as well as Regional Championships during her freshman, junior and senior years and a Sectional Championship in her senior season – the farthest a Chicago Public School ever advanced in the state tournament
  • Played club ball with the Chicago Batbusters during the 2018-19 year and the Taylor Made Titans in 2016-17

Statistics

Season Statistics

Season Statistics

No statistics available for this season.

Career Statistics

There are no statistics available for this player.

Historical Player Information

  • 39

    2020Freshman

    Utility
    5'3"
    39
  • 39

    2021Sophomore

    Infielder
    5'3"
    39
  • 39

    2022Junior

    Infielder
    5'3"
    39
  • 39

    2023Senior

    Infielder
    5'3"
    39