May 1, 2008

EAST PEORIA, Ill. - Four Lewis University softball players earned all-conference recognition, and head coach George DiMatteo was named Great Lakes Valley Conference Coach of the Year, the league announced at its annual awards banquet.

Senior catcher Mallory Paine, junior shortstop Kelly Dianis and junior pitcher Courtney Lyons were selected to the All-GLVC first team. Freshman designated player Stephanie Harmon was named the All-GLVC third team.

Paine earned all-conference recognition for a third consecutive season, making the first team for a second straight season. She put together a record-breaking season for the Flyers at the plate, setting program records for career home runs and RBIs. She hit .423 in GLVC games and led the team with nine home runs, needing just one more homer for a Lewis single season record. Paine's 32 RBIs and .591 slugging percentage rank second on the team.

Dianis, a first-team selection for the first time in her career, led Lewis in batting average, slugging percentage, RBIs and on-base percentage during the regular season. She also hit 10 doubles and six home runs, joining Paine as the only two Flyers in program history to hit 20 or more career home runs. She and Paine also led the team with 45 hits apiece. In GLVC games only, Dianis hit .424.

Lyons also earned first-team honors for the first time, after being named to the second team last season. She produced the best year of her career in the circle, setting a personal high with 19 victories. She ranked second in the conference in wins and ERA, and led Lewis in complete games, shutouts, innings pitched, strikeouts and opponent's batting average - producing career highs in each category.

Harmon put together a solid freshman season for the Flyers. She flirted with a .300 batting average all season, ranking sixth on the team at the end of the regular season. She belted seven doubles and five home runs, and she totaled 26 hits and 19 RBIs. She also ranked third on the team in multiple RBI games.

DiMatteo is the GLVC's Coach of the Year for a second straight season and the seventh time in his remarkable 25-year career as Lewis' head coach. Earlier in the season, he became only the 11th coach in NCAA Division II history to record 800 wins. He then guided the Flyers to the GLVC Championship Tournament's top seed for a second consecutive season and has the squad poised for its ninth NCAA tournament berth.

"I'm honored to be recognized by the coaches in the league," DiMatteo said. "But my players are the ones who truly deserve to be recognized. Without their success I wouldn't be receiving this honor."

Lewis, ranked No. 7 in the national poll, takes on Wisconsin-Parkside in the first round of the GLVC tournament in East Peoria, Ill. on Thursday at Noon.