KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -June 25, 2014- Tennessee softball alum Madison Shipman will be among 12 Honda Sports Award winners honored on Monday, June 30, at THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards show presented by Honda at the USC Galen Founders Room in Los Angeles, Calif.
CBS Sports Network will air the event live at 8 p.m. ET. Monday’s ceremony will reveal the “Best of the Best” Top Three finalists for the 2014 Honda Cup as well as the winner of the prestigious award. The Honda Division II and Division III Athletes of the Year and the Honda Inspiration Winner will also be announced.
Shipman, who joined Monica Abbott (2007) as Tennessee’s second winner of the Honda Sports Award for softball, and the other 11 Honda Sports Award winners are finalists for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2014 Honda Cup.
Tennessee women’s basketball legends Chamique Holdsclaw (1998) and Candace Parker (2008) are the only two UT student-athletes to win the Honda Cup.
Shipman reeled in several awards for an outstanding 2014 senior year in which she hit a team-high .417 with 18 homers, 16 doubles, 54 RBIs, 56 runs, 46 walks and 13 stolen bases. She also led the team with a .833 slugging percentage and a .548 on-base percentage. Shipman tied Tennessee’s single-season record with a 20-game hitting streak from Feb. 9 to March 9 and set a new school single-game record with nine defensive assists against South Carolina on March 23. In addition to the Honda Sports Award for softball, she became the first Tennessee student-athlete in any sport to win the prestigious Senior CLASS Award. Shipman also earned NFCA All-American honors for the third-straight year and Capital One Academic All-America honors for the second-consecutive year. She was a top 10 finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year award and became just the fourth Lady Vol to be named SEC Player of the Year.
Shipman shined throughout the grind of the 2014 SEC season, was a two-time SEC Player of the Week (March 24, April 14) and led the league with a .591 on-base percentage and ranked second in the with a .449 batting average, an .899 slugging percentage and 26 runs in league play. She also ranked third with seven doubles, fourth with 25 RBIs and tied for fifth with nine homers in SEC play.
In 29 games against teams that made the 2014 NCAA Tournament, Shipman hit a team-best .416 (32-for-77) with 12 homers, four doubles, 30 RBIs, 30 runs, 29 walks, five stolen bases, a .935 slugging percentage and a .579 on-base percentage.
Shipman completed her Tennessee career as one of UT’s best all-around players and one of its greatest power hitters. She finished her career ranked in Tennessee’s top five in home runs (44, third), doubles (55, third), total bases (444, third), RBIs (207, fourth), walks (105, fourth) and slugging percentage (.611, fifth). Shipman posted a .348 career batting average and finished in the Lady Vols’ top 10 in at-bats (737, ninth), runs (177, 10th), hits (253, 10th) and stolen bases (58, ninth). Her fielding was superb and she was widely regarded as the best defensive shortstop in the nation. Shipman’s 397 career assists ranked second in Tennessee history and her 29 career double plays turned rank third.
Last year’s Honda Cup winner was Keilani Ricketts (Oklahoma) representing the sport of softball. Two other student-athletes from the sport of softball have gone on to win the prestigious Honda Cup, Natasha Watley (UCLA) in 2003 and Lisa Fernandez (UCLA) in 1993.
THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 37 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $2.8 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.
2014 Honda Sports Award Winners
Abbey D’Agostino (Dartmouth), Cross Country, Senior, Topsfield, Mass.
MarieElena Bolles (UConn), Field Hockey, Senior, Forward, Phoenixville, Pa.
Abby Dahlkemper (UCLA), Soccer, Junior, Defense, Menlo Park, Calif.
Krista Vansant (Washington), Volleyball, Junior, Outside Hitter, Redlands, Calif.
Felicia Lee (Stanford), Swimming & Diving, Senior, Wayne, N.J.
Kim Jacob (Alabama), Gymnastics, Senior, All-Around, Raleigh, N.C.
Breanna Stewart (UConn), Basketball, Sophomore, Forward, Syracuse, N.Y.
Taylor Cummings (Maryland), Lacrosse, Sophomore, Midfielder, Ellicott City, Md.
Celine Boutier (Duke), Golf, Sophomore, Montrouge, France
Madison Shipman (Tennessee), Softball, Senior, Shortstop, Valencia, Calif.
Robin Anderson (UCLA), Tennis, Junior, Matawan, N.J.
Sharika Nelvis (Arkansas State), Track & Field, Senior, Memphis, Tenn.
Release Online: http://1tn.co/14HondaAwards
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