The Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America and USA Softball announced today the Top 26 Finalists for the 2015 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year, which will be announced at the opening of the 2015 NCAA Women’s College World Series (WCWS) in Oklahoma City.

Due to a tie, 26 individuals have been named as the Top 26 Finalists for the award, which is considered the most prestigious honor in Division I women’s collegiate softball and recognizes the outstanding athletic achievement by female players across the country.

Now in its 14th year, previous recipients of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award are:

• UCLA catcher Stacey Nuveman (2002),
• Texas pitcher Cat Osterman (2003, 2005 and 2006),
• Florida State pitcher Jessica Van der Linden (2004),
• Tennessee pitcher Monica Abbott (2007),
• Virginia Tech pitcher Angela Tincher (2008),
• Washington pitcher Danielle Lawrie (2009 and 2010),
• Stanford shortstop Ashley Hansen (2011),
• Oklahoma pitcher Keilani Ricketts (2012 and 2013),
• Florida State pitcher Lacey Waldrop (2014)

Click here for the complete list of the Top 26 Finalists for the 2015 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award with head shots of each player.

Here are the 26 finalists:

Name	School	Position	Class
AJ Andrews	LSU	Outfield	Senior
Bianka Bell	LSU	Infield	Junior
Allexis Bennett	UCLA	Outfield	Junior
Kristen Brown	North Carolina	Infield	Junior
Ally Carda	UCLA	Pitcher/Utility	Senior
Emily Carosone	Auburn	Infield	Junior
Lauren Chamberlain	Oklahoma	Infield	Senior
Lexie Elkins	Louisiana-Lafayette	Catcher	Junior
Kellie Fox	Arizona	Infield	Senior
Amber Freeman	Arizona State	Catcher	Senior
Megan Good	James Madison	Pitcher/Utility	Freshman
Chelsea Goodacre	Arizona	Catcher	Senior
Sara Groenewegen	Minnesota	Pitcher	Sophomore
Lauren Haeger	Florida	Pitcher/Infield	Senior
Cheridan Hawkins	Oregon	Pitcher	Junior
Alex Hugo	Georgia	Infield	Junior
Miranda Kramer	Western Kentucky	Pitcher	Senior
Haylie McCleney	Alabama	Outfield	Junior
Shelby Pendley	Oklahoma	Infield/Pitcher	Senior
Sierra Romero	Michigan	Infield	Junior
Kelsey Stewart	Florida	Infield	Junior
Janie Takeda	Oregon	Outfield	Senior
Shelby Turnier	UCF	Pitcher	Junior
Lacey Waldrop	Florida State	Pitcher	Senior
Karley Wester	Notre Dame	Outfield	Sophomore
Paige Wilson	Georgia	Infield	Senior

This year’s Top 26 is comprised of 12 seniors, 11 juniors and two sophomores and one freshman and the student-athletes selected represent 19 NCAA Division I universities and nine athletic conferences.

Here are the schools that have two players nominated:

• Arizona (Kellie Fox, sr. infielder; Chelsea Goodacre, sr. catcher)
• Florida (Lauren Haeger, sr. pitcher/infielder; Kelsey Stewart, jr. infielder)
• Georgia (Alex Hugo, jr. infielder; Paige Wilson, sr. infielder)
• LSU (AJ Andrews, sr. outfielder; Bianka Bell, jr. infielder)
• Oklahoma (Lauren Chamberlain, sr. infielder; Shelby Pendley, sr. infielder)
• Oregon (Cheridan Hawkins, jr. pitcher; Janie Takeda, sr. outfielder)
• UCLA (Allexis Bennett, jr. outfielder; All Carda, sr. pitcher)

Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Florida State, James Madison, Louisiana-Lafayette, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Notre Dame, UCF and Western Kentucky each have one member among the Top 25 Finalists.

Just prior to the start of post-season play, on May 6 the list will be narrowed to the Top 10 Finalists. The Top 3 Finalists will be announced May 20, while the winner of the 2015 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award will be revealed on May 26 prior to the start of the NCAA WCWS in Oklahoma City.

The USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award is voted on by coaching representatives from 10 Division I Conferences in the 15 ASA Regions, members of the media who consistently cover Division I Softball across the country as well as past winners of the award.

In addition to bestowing the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award, ASA/USA Softball is now in its 12th season of presenting the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll and the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Week, which are announced Tuesdays during the regular season.  A complete history of the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award, past Top 25 Polls and Player of the Week honorees are available at Teamusa.org/USA-Softball/College-Corner.aspx.