Six Bluejays Named to MVC Softball All-Centennial Team
5/23/2007 3:00:00 AM | Softball
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - In 2006-07 the Missouri Valley Conference celebrates a century of excellence as the nation's second-oldest NCAA Division I conference. As part of the 100 year anniversary celebration, The Valley is naming all-centennial teams for each of its sponsored sports and recently announced the softball all-centennial team. Six former Creighton softball players were named to the team; Second baseman Heidi Geier (1996-99), pitcher/first baseman Abby Johnson (2002-05), pitcher Tammy Nielsen (2003-05) and outfielders Melanie Dorsey (2002-05), Christy Lunceford (1994-97) and Stacey Rybar (2001-04).
Geier, a 2006 inductee into the Creighton athletics Hall of Fame, was a three-time first-team all-MVC performer. She remains the Bluejay career leader with 83 stolen bases, while her 243 career hits rank second and her .358 career batting average and 129 runs scored both rank third in school history. As a senior in 1999 she led the Bluejays to the MVC regular-season and tournament titles and an appearance in the NCAA tournament, while hitting .403 and earning Easton All-America First Team honors. The Omaha native was also a two-time academic All-American.
The 2005 MVC Player of the Year, Johnson was a three-time first-team all-MVC honoree, while also earning second-team honors once. The Omaha Westside graduate still owns school records for RBI in a season (43) and career (144). Her 30 career home runs rank third in school history, including a 12 homer season as a sophomore. During her career she also earned NFCA All-Midwest Region honors, NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team accolades and was recognized as an MVC Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-District performer. Along with her impressive hitting statistics, she compiled a 28-7 record with a 1.48 ERA in her pitching career.
Nielsen is arguably the best pitcher in league history, setting the conference career strikeout mark with 914, despite hurling only three years at Creighton. Every season in her Creighton career, she earned first-team all-MVC honors, NFCA All-Midwest Region honors and became the only three-time MVC Tournament MVP while recording every out in the Valley postseason from 2003-05. She concluded her career ranked 25th in NCAA history with 8.9 strikeouts per seven innings, while she owns school records for career victories (76) and single-season triumphs (28). In 2004 she was named the MVC Pitcher of the Year as she hurled five no-hitters and ranked fifth in the NCAA with a 0.67 ERA.
Dorsey excelled in her final two seasons at Creighton, joining Geier as the only two players in school history with two 70-hit seasons. As a senior she earned Easton All-America First-Team honors after leading the conference with 24 stolen bases and a .402 average. The outfielder from Cozad, Neb., ranks fourth in CU history with a .328 career average, while her 54 career stolen bases rank third. The two-time first-team all-MVC performer also ranks in the CU career top-10 in hits, runs and games played.
Lunceford is Creighton's all-time hit leader, with 245 base knocks, including a single-season record of 76 in 1997. A three-time first-team all-region, all-MVC and academic all-MVC honoree, she also owns the school record of 51 career two-baggers. She ranks second in school history with a .379 career average. The outfielder also ranks in the CU career top-10 in RBI (fourth), triples (sixth), runs (fifth) and stolen bases (10th). She was the first female student-athlete in CU history to be named First-Team Academic All-American, when she earned the honor after her outstanding 1997 season in which she hit .400 with a then school-record 19 doubles.
A Papillion-La Vista graduate, Rybar was a four-year starter in center field earning first-team all-MVC honors three times. The slugger ended her career as the Bluejay and MVC career home run leader with 37 round trippers. Her 13 home runs in 2004 were then a school record as she as named the 2004 MVC Player of the Year and Easton All-American. Rybar started all 221 games of her career, which ranks as the sixth most games played in school history, while she also ranks second in career RBI with 121 and third with 43 doubles. Her 132 runs scored are still a school record. She is also in the CU career top-10 in hits and stolen bases.
