10 Cougars earn All-WCC honors, six on first team

SAN MATEO, Calif. – Ten BYU softball players received All-West Coast Conference awards as voted on by the WCC coaches.

Violet Zavodnik, Autumn Moffat-Korth, Huntyr Ava, Marissa Chavez, Taylei Williams and Martha Epenesa were named to the All-WCC First Team, the most players from any WCC program on the first team. HannahJo Peterson, Alyssa Podhurcak and Chloe Temples were named to the All-WCC Second Team, with Mallory Barber receiving All-WCC Honorable Mention.

Today's award haul for BYU graced Ava with her first All-WCC First Team selection. She led the conference with a .408 batting average, the 42nd highest individual batting average in the nation. Not too far behind, sat her center fielder teammate Zavodnik, in second place in the WCC with a .399 batting average. As last year's WCC Freshman and Player of the Year, Zavodnik managed to outperform her breakthrough rookie season and led the WCC in three other major individual categories: 59 RBI, 61 hits and 19 home runs. Fifth-year senior Autumn Moffat-Korth was named WCC Pitcher of the Week four times this year, leading the WCC in wins with 19. Shortstop Marissa Chavez was named to the All-WCC First Team for the third year in a row, totaling 40 runs, 47 hits, 11 doubles, 29 RBI and four home runs. Taylei Williams also picked up her first All-WCC first team honor. Williams led the Cougars in stolen bases with 17, the third-most in the conference. On the season, the left fielder totaled 40 runs, 50 hits, 13 doubles, 2 triples, 5 homers and 26 RBI, earning two WCC Player of the Week titles as well. As lead-off hitter for majority of the year, Epenesa finished with a .349 batting average and 46 runs, 53 hits, 13 doubles and nine home runs. As a two-time All-WCC First Team selection, she had the third-most RBI in the WCC with 37.

Senior captain HannahJo Peterson was named to the WCC Second Team after totaling 33 runs, 34 hits, 10 doubles and 24 RBI. Alyssa Podhurcak, a junior at second base, also secured her spot on the WCC Second Team, with 26 runs, 35 hits, 11 doubles and three home runs. Podhurcak had two triples this year as well, a new career-high. It was also her first All-WCC honor of any kind. Junior transfer Chloe Temples is the third Cougar to make the WCC Second Team, totaling the WCC's second-most strikeouts with 140. Temples broke the BYU softball program single-game record with 15 strikeouts against WCC opponent Saint Mary's. Temples had two saves this year on top of 15 wins. Her 3.12 ERA was the third-best out of all WCC softball pitchers. 

In 19 games started, Barber had 63 at-bats with 11 runs, 21 hits, 14 RBI and four doubles. This honorable mention award is the first of any kind for the junior who transferred from Salt Lake Community College in the fall of 2020.

As a whole, BYU led the conference in batting average (.336), runs (365), hits (451), RBI (336), home runs (66), doubles (93) triples (10) and ERA (2.02). In conference play, the Cougars dominated the WCC with a batting average of .352, with 113 runs, 135 hits and 19 home runs.

Ten All-Conference awards is a program high for the Cougars. Also, for the first time since joining the WCC in 2014, BYU did not take home any individual honors. 

For a full list of WCC honorees, head to wccsports.com.