WESTFIELD, Mass. –Westfield State senior softball shortstop Sarah Hough has capped off her sensational career with the Owls by being named to the Academic All-America Team ® as selected by the Collegiate Sports Communicators.

Hough was named as an infielder on the second team of the prestigious team which is the premier national award recognizing collegiate student-athletes for their combined athletic and academic achievements.

Previously honored as the MASCAC Player of the Year and a third-team NFCA All-Region choice, Hough batted .377 with a school single-season record 11 home runs, 17 doubles, 53 RBI and 42 runs scored. She made just six errors while leading the Owls' infield defense with a .964 fielding percentage. She led the Owls to a 39-3 record this season, and a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament's Bethlehem Regional Semifinals.

She graduated in May with a degree in psychology with a 3.90 GPA.

Five of the 33 members of the Academic All-America® Division III softball teams claim a perfect 4.0 GPA in their undergraduate work or graduate courses. The 11 members of the first team have an average GPA of 3.91, with the entire Division III team retaining a collective average GPA of 3.85.

Westfield State has now placed 13 student-athletes on the CSC (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-America teams a total of 15 times since 1982.   Hough is the third Owls' student-athlete since 2024 to be selected.

She joins Westfield State softball hall of famers Lisa Liebecki, who was honored in both 1986 and 1987, and fellow shortstop Cheryl Bassett, who was named to the Academic All-America Team in 1988.

Established in 1952 and selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC), Academic All-America is the longest running and premier award for athletic and academic success across championship college sports at all NCAA levels, the NAIA, two-year colleges and Canadian institutions.  Academic All-American is a title reserved for college student-athletes who perform at an elite level in their chosen sport and in the classroom. "Academic All-America" is a federally registered trademark of CSC.

Currently, CSC sponsors Academic All-America® programs for men's soccer, women's soccer, football, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's swimming & diving, women's swimming & diving, men's tennis, women's tennis, baseball, softball and men's and women's track and field/cross country. All other championship sports are eligible through the At-Large program.