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Program-Record Eight Blue Devils Named to NFCA All-Region Teams
5/15/2025 4:43:00 PM | Softball
DURHAM, N.C. – No. 21 Duke softball set a program record with eight Blue Devils earning NFCA East All-Region honors, as announced by the organization Thursday afternoon.
Graduate students Dani Drogemuller and Thessa Malau'ulu and junior D'Auna Jennings highlighted Duke's honorees with All-Region First Team distinction. Senior Ana Gold, juniors Cassidy Curd and Aminah Vega and redshirt sophomore Kairi Rodriguez were named to the All-Region Second Team while junior KK Mathis were selected to the third team.
All eight Blue Devils now become eligible for the 2025 NFCA Division I All-America squads.
Duke (East), Arkansas (Central), Clemson (Mid-Atlantic), Ohio State (Great Lakes), Oklahoma (Midwest) and UCLA (West) led the way with all eight nominations receiving All-Region recognition. The Bruins garnered five first-team selections, followed by the Tigers and Sooners with four, the Blue Devils and Buckeyes with three and the Razorbacks with one.
Drogemuller stepped into a new role in her second season with the team, leading the Blue Devils' pitching staff with 157.2 innings in her 35 appearances. She owns a team-best 2.97 ERA and a 17-8 ledger on the year. The Frankfort, Ill., native dominated the circle during the final week of the season, tossing 25.1 of 26.0 innings, including three complete games. She finished 3-1 in her four appearances during the late season stretch, allowing 16 earned runs off 24 hits with 17 strikeouts. Drogemuller held her opponents to a .242 batting average in 2025. The graduate student earned NFCA All-Region honors for the first time in her career.
Malau'ulu joined the Blue Devils following her four-year career at UCLA and has made an immediate impact on the program in her final collegiate season. The Long Beach, Calif., native was named one of three captains for the 2025 campaign and has continued to lead the team both on and off the field. She has recorded a team-best four triples on the year and sits second in batting average (.366) and runs scored (54). Malau'ulu is one of just three players to start all 54 games this season, seeing action at third base. She has played a crucial role on the Blue Devils' defense and owns a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage while playing the hot corner in conference games. Malau'ulu is the second consecutive Blue Devil to be named ACC Defensive player of the Year as Vega was the recipient in 2024.
In her third season with the team, Jennings has been a consistent part of the Blue Devils' offense. She is one of four hitting above .350 with a .365 batting average heading into NCAA play, which sits third on the team overall. She sits behind Gold in stolen bases with 12 on the year. The lefty slapper also holds the program's single-season records in batting average (.462) and hits (80). She garnered NFCA All-Region recognition for the second time in her Blue Devil career, after earning a spot on the second team in 2023.
A native of Ballston Spa, N.Y., Gold has played a key part in the Blue Devils' success on offense during her four seasons. She has seen action in 227 games, earning 225 starts, and owns a .311 career batting average. In her final season, Gold has tallied career highs in hits (58), runs scored (56) and stolen bases (19). She is one of just three players to start all 54 games this season and leads the team in stolen bases and home runs (13). Her 19 stolen bases on the year ranks second in the ACC and is just six shy of the single-season program record. Gold picked up all-region honors for the second time in her career after being named to the third team in 2023.
Curd, a product of Port St. Lucie, Fla., continues to build on her success in the circle this season. She has tossed nine complete games in her 33 appearances and owns a 13-7 ledger with a team-high three saves. Curd was stellar in Duke's 8-1 victory over No. 2 Florida during the Bubly Invitational in February, allowing just one run on four hits with a game-high six strikeouts. The win marked the Blue Devils' highest-ranked victory in program history. The lefty picked up her second win over a top five opponent after working a complete game shutout to help lift Duke past No. 4 UCLA, 1-0, in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. She limited the Bruins to just three hits in 7.0 innings of work while striking out five. Curd leads Duke's pitching staff with 138 strikeouts in 127.2 innings. Her 138 strikeouts on the year ranks second in the ACC behind Virginia Tech's Emma Lemley. She earned the second all-region nod of her Blue Devil career after earning third team honors in 2023.
Vega, a native of DeBary Fla., has powered the Blue Devil offense through 54 games of the regular season, leading the team in batting average (.433), hits (78), doubles (17) and total bases (130). She is one of just three players to have started all 54 games this season, primarily at second base. She was recently named a top-25 finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and became the first Blue Devil to earn First Team All-ACC honors in three straight seasons.
Rodriguez returned to the lineup after redshirting the 2024 season due to injury and has seen action in all 54 games this season, earning 53 starts behind the plate. She sits third on the team in doubles (11), home runs (8) and RBI (40) and tallied career-highs in batting average (.327), runs scored (20) and hits (54). The West Palm Beach, Fla., native has been a force behind the dish, throwing out seven runners on the basepath. Rodriguez powered the offense to a 7-0 victory over No. 16 Stanford in the ACC Championship Quarterfinals last week, finishing 2-for-3 at the plate and matching her career-high with four RBI during the contest. The redshirt sophomore has recorded 18 multi-hit and 11 multi-RBI performances on the year. The honor marks the first NFCA All-Region nod of her career.
In her first season with the Blue Devils, Mathis has already made her mark on the Duke offense. The West Chester, Ohio native holds a .338 batting average and has tallied 50 hits, 36 RBI and six home runs in her 148 plate appearances. Mathis crushed her second career grand slam over the center field wall to help guide Duke past Elon, 10-0, at Duke Softball Stadium. The junior finished 2-for-3 at the plate, while matching her career-high with five RBI during the contest. She posted her 100th career RBI during Duke's 11-0 run-rule victory over ECU on March 26. Mathis tallied her fifth multi-RBI game of the year during the regular season finale at NC State, sending out a three-run shot in the top of the first to give Duke an early lead en route to a 12-6 victory over the Wolfpack. She collected NFCA honors for the second time in her collegiate career after also being named to the third team in 2023.
Duke opens NCAA postseason play in the Durham Regional on Friday at 12 p.m., against Howard. Georgia and Coastal Carolina will follow with a 2:30 p.m., matchup. The regional is a double-elimination format.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils softball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeSOFTBALL"
#GoDuke
Graduate students Dani Drogemuller and Thessa Malau'ulu and junior D'Auna Jennings highlighted Duke's honorees with All-Region First Team distinction. Senior Ana Gold, juniors Cassidy Curd and Aminah Vega and redshirt sophomore Kairi Rodriguez were named to the All-Region Second Team while junior KK Mathis were selected to the third team.
All eight Blue Devils now become eligible for the 2025 NFCA Division I All-America squads.
Duke (East), Arkansas (Central), Clemson (Mid-Atlantic), Ohio State (Great Lakes), Oklahoma (Midwest) and UCLA (West) led the way with all eight nominations receiving All-Region recognition. The Bruins garnered five first-team selections, followed by the Tigers and Sooners with four, the Blue Devils and Buckeyes with three and the Razorbacks with one.
Drogemuller stepped into a new role in her second season with the team, leading the Blue Devils' pitching staff with 157.2 innings in her 35 appearances. She owns a team-best 2.97 ERA and a 17-8 ledger on the year. The Frankfort, Ill., native dominated the circle during the final week of the season, tossing 25.1 of 26.0 innings, including three complete games. She finished 3-1 in her four appearances during the late season stretch, allowing 16 earned runs off 24 hits with 17 strikeouts. Drogemuller held her opponents to a .242 batting average in 2025. The graduate student earned NFCA All-Region honors for the first time in her career.
Malau'ulu joined the Blue Devils following her four-year career at UCLA and has made an immediate impact on the program in her final collegiate season. The Long Beach, Calif., native was named one of three captains for the 2025 campaign and has continued to lead the team both on and off the field. She has recorded a team-best four triples on the year and sits second in batting average (.366) and runs scored (54). Malau'ulu is one of just three players to start all 54 games this season, seeing action at third base. She has played a crucial role on the Blue Devils' defense and owns a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage while playing the hot corner in conference games. Malau'ulu is the second consecutive Blue Devil to be named ACC Defensive player of the Year as Vega was the recipient in 2024.
In her third season with the team, Jennings has been a consistent part of the Blue Devils' offense. She is one of four hitting above .350 with a .365 batting average heading into NCAA play, which sits third on the team overall. She sits behind Gold in stolen bases with 12 on the year. The lefty slapper also holds the program's single-season records in batting average (.462) and hits (80). She garnered NFCA All-Region recognition for the second time in her Blue Devil career, after earning a spot on the second team in 2023.
A native of Ballston Spa, N.Y., Gold has played a key part in the Blue Devils' success on offense during her four seasons. She has seen action in 227 games, earning 225 starts, and owns a .311 career batting average. In her final season, Gold has tallied career highs in hits (58), runs scored (56) and stolen bases (19). She is one of just three players to start all 54 games this season and leads the team in stolen bases and home runs (13). Her 19 stolen bases on the year ranks second in the ACC and is just six shy of the single-season program record. Gold picked up all-region honors for the second time in her career after being named to the third team in 2023.
Curd, a product of Port St. Lucie, Fla., continues to build on her success in the circle this season. She has tossed nine complete games in her 33 appearances and owns a 13-7 ledger with a team-high three saves. Curd was stellar in Duke's 8-1 victory over No. 2 Florida during the Bubly Invitational in February, allowing just one run on four hits with a game-high six strikeouts. The win marked the Blue Devils' highest-ranked victory in program history. The lefty picked up her second win over a top five opponent after working a complete game shutout to help lift Duke past No. 4 UCLA, 1-0, in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. She limited the Bruins to just three hits in 7.0 innings of work while striking out five. Curd leads Duke's pitching staff with 138 strikeouts in 127.2 innings. Her 138 strikeouts on the year ranks second in the ACC behind Virginia Tech's Emma Lemley. She earned the second all-region nod of her Blue Devil career after earning third team honors in 2023.
Vega, a native of DeBary Fla., has powered the Blue Devil offense through 54 games of the regular season, leading the team in batting average (.433), hits (78), doubles (17) and total bases (130). She is one of just three players to have started all 54 games this season, primarily at second base. She was recently named a top-25 finalist for the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year and became the first Blue Devil to earn First Team All-ACC honors in three straight seasons.
Rodriguez returned to the lineup after redshirting the 2024 season due to injury and has seen action in all 54 games this season, earning 53 starts behind the plate. She sits third on the team in doubles (11), home runs (8) and RBI (40) and tallied career-highs in batting average (.327), runs scored (20) and hits (54). The West Palm Beach, Fla., native has been a force behind the dish, throwing out seven runners on the basepath. Rodriguez powered the offense to a 7-0 victory over No. 16 Stanford in the ACC Championship Quarterfinals last week, finishing 2-for-3 at the plate and matching her career-high with four RBI during the contest. The redshirt sophomore has recorded 18 multi-hit and 11 multi-RBI performances on the year. The honor marks the first NFCA All-Region nod of her career.
In her first season with the Blue Devils, Mathis has already made her mark on the Duke offense. The West Chester, Ohio native holds a .338 batting average and has tallied 50 hits, 36 RBI and six home runs in her 148 plate appearances. Mathis crushed her second career grand slam over the center field wall to help guide Duke past Elon, 10-0, at Duke Softball Stadium. The junior finished 2-for-3 at the plate, while matching her career-high with five RBI during the contest. She posted her 100th career RBI during Duke's 11-0 run-rule victory over ECU on March 26. Mathis tallied her fifth multi-RBI game of the year during the regular season finale at NC State, sending out a three-run shot in the top of the first to give Duke an early lead en route to a 12-6 victory over the Wolfpack. She collected NFCA honors for the second time in her collegiate career after also being named to the third team in 2023.
Duke opens NCAA postseason play in the Durham Regional on Friday at 12 p.m., against Howard. Georgia and Coastal Carolina will follow with a 2:30 p.m., matchup. The regional is a double-elimination format.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils softball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeSOFTBALL"
#GoDuke
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