Jackets’ Pavey Named to Academic Team (May 20, 2005)

BILLINGS, MT – Montana State-Billings softball player Layne Pavey was named to the “ESPN The Magazine” Academic All-District VII Softball Second Team this week.  Pavey, a senior catcher from Spokane, Wash., had a 3.91 grade point average in Sociology and plans to attend law school next year.

The College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America program divides the country into eight districts.  Schools from Montana are part of District VII, which also includes Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Nominees for the District VII College Division can come from any Division II, Division III, or NAIA school in any of those states.

Pavey was one of two catchers named to the District VII team.  Crystal Krebs of Colorado-Colorado Springs earned first team honors.  Pavey batted .169 with 19 RBI and four home runs in the recently completed season.  An All-West Region selection as a junior when she hit .307 with eight home runs, Pavey was considered one of the top defensive catchers in the West Region over the past two years.

For her career, Pavey played in 157 games as a Yellowjacket and batted .261.  She hit 18 home runs, second in school history, and drove in 70 RBI.  Pavey also spent two years as the chairperson of the MSU Billings Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

MSU Billings was 36-14 overall in 2005 and finished second in the PacWest Conference.  The Yellowjackets qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the program’s history, advancing to the West Region semifinals before losing to eventual regional champion San Francisco State.