Dreese, Rodriguez, Salas and Valdez Earn NAIA Scholar-Athlete Recognition

KANSAS CITY, MO. (May 22, 2024) - The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) released the 2024 Daktronics NAIA Softball Scholar-Athletes. Four athletes from the Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) softball program were named to the team.

The four winners are Kayla Dreese, Natalie Rodriguez, Kristee Salas and Cassandra Valdez – all are graduate students.

The 2024 list features 1,250 student-athletes who achieved at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average (GPA) at their institution. In order to be nominated by an institution's sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, must appear on the eligibility certificate for the sport, and have attended one full year at said institution.

Kayla Dreese, who is working on her MBA in Management, has been part of the team since 2018. She is a multiple Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC), NAIA and College Sports Communicators (CSC) Scholar-Athlete winner. She has also received many RRAC All-Conference and All-Tournament awards. This year, she leads the team with 59 hits, 14 doubles and a .428 batting average. She also has committed no errors this year. Dreese marked at GPA of 3.78.

Natalie Rodriguez is pursuing a Master of Arts in Teaching and is playing in her first season at OLLU. She received All-Conference First Team this year. Rodriguez leads the team in at-bats with 147 and RBIs with 44. She marked a GPA of 3.50.

Kristee Salas, who is working on a Master of Arts in Teaching, has been part of the team for three seasons. She has 18 runs, 21 hits, 10 RBIs and six stolen bases. Salas has earned many RRAC and NAIA Scholar-Athlete awards. She marked a GPA of 3.68.

Cassandra Valdez, who is pursuing a Master of Arts in Literature and Creative Writing, is in her third season with the Saints. She received All-Conference First Team three years in a row, and has been named RRAC Player of the Year twice and Pitcher of the Year three times. Valdez leads the team in runs with 60, triples with four, home runs with 15, RBIs with 44, walks with 46, stolen bases with 29, on-base percentage with .531 and slugging percentage with .823. She also leads in wins with 26, innings pitched with 168.0, strikeouts with 255 and ERA with 0.58. Valdez marked a GPA of 3.71

To learn more about the Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete program, click HERE.

A list of all award winners can be found here: 2024 Daktronics NAIA Softball Scholar-Athletes - PDF