College notes: Nicole Nobbe of Merced up for top D-II softball honor

Nicole Nobbe was born to hit.

After earning All-America status while helping Cypress College capture the California Community College Athletic Association softball title, the Merced native has continued to mash at the Division II level.

Nobbe burst onto the Cal State San Bernardino campus a season ago and led the team with a .500 average to be named an All-American again. The senior has been even better this season. With a .526 average, 14 home runs, 22 doubles and 34 RBIs, Nobbe has been named one of 25 players in the running for Division II’s first-ever Player of the Year award.

Nobbe has more than earned her way into the conversation.

The infielder’s batting average ranks second in school history, as do her 14 home runs. She’s already tied her school record with 22 doubles and looks poised to shatter the school’s slugging percentage mark with 1.008 with eight games to play. She leads the California Collegiate Athletic Association in average, hits, doubles, home runs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage, and she ranks in the top five nationally in five of the six categories.

The list will be narrowed down to the top-10 finalists on April 30.

BVC Championships

The Merced College men’s swim team enters the Bay Valley Conference Championships as something other than the defending champs for the first time since 2008.

The Blue Devils had their six-year BVC title run halted by a 90-point victory by College of the Sequoias a year ago. Scott McCall’s squad will attempt to start a new run Thursday in Suisun City. The meet runs through Saturday.

Alejandro Casas-Gomez, Jordan Salcido, Tyler McDonald, Kyle Sugimoto and Taylor Heckathorn will lead the way for MC.

After struggling to a fourth-place finish with just eight swimmers a year ago, the MC women look to regain their former glory. Karin Umemora’s team is led by sophomores Haley Fisicaro and Sarah Johnston, and freshmen Ayaka Sakamoto and Bronte Gomes.

National Conference nods

The 2015 men’s volleyball season didn’t go how UC Merced had hoped in terms of wins and losses, but the Bobcats made undeniable strides in the program’s second year.

The National Conference recognized two of the team’s brightest young stars last week. Freshman Cole Smith was named the conference’s Newcomer of the Year after setting school records with 194 kills and 491 attacks. Sophomore middle blocker Samuel Hala’ufia just missed conference honors but was named to the all-tournament team after a monster showing (28 kills, nine blocks) during last weekend’s conference tournament.

This story was originally published April 15, 2015 at 7:11 PM with the headline "College notes: Nicole Nobbe of Merced up for top D-II softball honor."