TOWSON, Md. – Southwest Minnesota State University senior Amy Dreessen has been named to the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America Division II Softball first team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Dreessen is one of just 11 NCAA II softball student-athletes to earn first team Academic All-America honors, including one of just four infielders selected.

Dreessen is also just the fifth SMSU student-athlete in school history to earn first team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors.  Football player Bruce Saugstad was the first SMSU student-athlete to earn the honor in 1988, baseball players Brendan Rokke and Chris Eichten earned the honor in 2004 and 2012 respectively, while volleyball Brooke Burmeister in 2012, also was named first team Academic All-American.

It's the 15th time in school history an SMSU student-athlete has earned CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades and the eighth since 2009.

A native of Elkhorn, Neb., Dreessen, has compiled a 3.83 GPA as a biology/chemistry major and recently completed one of the best seasons in program history.

A first team All-NSIC and second team Daktronics All-Region honoree, Dreessen led SMSU this spring in batting average (.436), runs (28), hits (51), doubles (12), triples (2), RBIs (28), slugging percentage (.726), walks (29) and on-base percentage (.554).

In conference games only, Dreessen finished first in the NSIC in hits (35), walks (23), on-base percentage (.577), chances (230), and putouts (227), while ranking second in plate appearances (104), tied for second in doubles (9), third in batting average (.443), tied for fourth in total bases (59), sixth in runs scored (22), tenth in slugging percentage (.747) and tied for 11th in home runs (5).

Dreessen leaves the program ranked within the top five in SMSU history in on-base percentage (.436), walks (91), hit-by-pitch (13), chances (1,311), putouts (1,269), doubles (33) and home runs (18).  She also ranks in the top ten in total bases (259), slugging percentage (.512) and RBIs (92).

Dreessen finished her career earning Academic All-NSIC honors three times, twice being named CoSIDA Academic All-District, while also earning the NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction Award.

Senior catcher Amy Madden from Southern Nazarene University was named the NCAA II Softball Academic All-American of the Year.

To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.

For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.

>CoSIDA Academic All-American Release