NEWTON, Mass. – The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) announced the 2017-18 Division III All-Academic Teams, ranking the Lasell College softball team at #21 with a team GPA of 3.540. Lasell, which was ranked #18 last year, is one of three programs from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) to be ranked in the top 25, joining Johnson & Wales University (#2) and Suffolk University (#T-10).

In addition, 11 Lasers were named NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes, which recognizes student-athletes who achieve at least a 3.5 grade point average (GPA) on a 4.0 scale. The list of Lasers includes senior Ashley Gatchell (Franklin, Mass./Norfolk County); sophomores Bailey Burnett (Phillipston, Mass./Narragansett Regional), Arianna Genovese (Rocky Hill, Conn.), Sarah Kline (Vernon, Conn./Rockville), Essie Plouffe (North Scituate, R.I./Mount Saint Charles Academy), and Victoria Spellman (Rocky Hill, Conn.); and freshmen Allie Borowsky (Dalton, Mass./Wahconah), Rachel Carlino (Burlington, Mass.), Nicolette Genkos (Worcester, Mass./Doherty), Bethany Hector (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant), and Sarah Walton (Poland, Maine).

Genovese, Kline, Plouffe and Spellman are two-time recipients for Lasell. The Laser program has received 32 All-America Scholar-Athlete awards over the past three years under head coach Rich Paulhus.

For a full list of the NCAA Division III All-Academic Teams, click here. For the full list of All-America Scholar-Athletes, click here.

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