Sophie Tully continues to set the example as an NCAA Division III student-athlete for University of Lynchburg’s softball team, and she keeps winning the hardware to back it up.
The star first baseman from Moseley garnered third-team Academic All-America honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America, CoSIDA announced Tuesday afternoon, becoming Lynchburg softball’s first Academic All-America selection in more than a decade. She was the only student-athlete from a Virginia institution across any NCAA or NAIA division to be named Academic All-America.
CoSIDA’s Academic All-District and Academic All-America program honors the nation’s top scholar-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CoSIDA separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. Teams are elected by athletics communications professionals around the United States and Canada.
The first-team All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference and third-team all-region first baseman carries a perfect 4.0 in her philosophy and political science majors. She led the Hornets on the field, too, compiling a team-high .398 batting average, six home runs, and 39 RBI. Her 51 hits and 12 doubles also led the squad, as did her .993 fielding average at first base. Tully won the ODAC’s player of the week honor March 7 and earned a nod on the 2022 ODAC all-tournament team as well.
The ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete in softball, Tully is the president of the Westover Honors College executive board and serves in a number of service capacities around Lynchburg’s campus, including tutoring in the University’s Wilmer Writing Center. She is also active off campus in Democratic politics working on multiple campaign efforts, currently as a staff researcher for Josh Throneburg’s congressional campaign in the Virginia 5th District.
Tully is the third Lynchburg softball player to ever be voted to a CoSIDA Academic All-America team, joining Brittany Allsop (second team, 2009; third team, 2007) and Christy Mays (second team, 2005). She is the second Lynchburg student-athlete this season to earn an Academic All-America spot; women’s basketball’s Lizzie Davis was also named a third-teamer over the winter.
CoSIDA began the distinguished Academic All-America program in 1952, and since then, has honored thousands of deserving student-athletes from numerous sports across all divisions with these elite Academic All-America scholar-athlete honors. Currently, CoSIDA sponsors Academic All-America programs for men’s soccer, women’s soccer, football, volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, softball and men’s and women’s track and field/cross country, along with the at-large category. Student-athletes must carry a cumulative GPA of at least 3.3 and be a starter or significant contributor to his or her team to be eligible for nomination.
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