Allyson Fournier, a senior softball standout from Tufts University, was named the 2015 Honda DIII Athlete of the Year as announced by Executive Director Chris Voelz of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) presented by Honda.

Fournier is a three-time DIII Athlete of the Year nominee and won the award in 2013. She will be presented with the 2015 honor at the live telecast of the 2015 Collegiate Women Sports Awards Show presented by Honda on Monday, June 29^th, on CBS Sports Network at 6 PT/9 ET pm, at the USC Galen Center Founders Room in Los Angeles, Calif.

“I’m incredibly honored to be selected as Honda’s DIII Woman Athlete of the Year again considering all of the other great candidates in other sports who were up for the award,” Fournier said. “This past month as been like a dream. From winning our third NCAA championship, to pitching professionally and now being able to join the best collegiate female athletes in the country in LA in a few weeks is just amazing.”

The honor was voted on by national balloting among 1,000 NCAA member schools as part of THE CWSA program, now in its 39th year. Finalists for the award included Angela Bosco, Lynchburg (Soccer), Eudice Chong, Wesleyan (Tennis), Carly Fehler, UW-Eau Claire (track & field), Nathalie Gruet, Wellesley (field hockey), Emma Hayes-Hurley, SUNY Cortland (lacrosse), Maggie Kamp, Calvin (volleyball), Sydney Maluenda, George Fox (golf), Sydney Moss, Thomas More (basketball), Amy Regan, Stevens Institute of Technology (cross country) and Sarah Thompson, Williams (swimming & diving).

Over her career, Fournier has led Tufts to three-straight national titles, a 111-5 record and two NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player awards. The senior from Windsor, Conn., is a four-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) first-team All-American and a four-time NESCAC Pitcher of the Year.

This season she led the nation in earned run average (0.20), shutouts (22), strikeouts (422), strikeouts per seven innings (14.0) and victories with a 35-0 mark. She threw five no-hitters including two perfect games this spring and had a scoreless innings streak of 105.1 that is the longest ever in Division III history. She is the first student-athlete in the history of the award to earn the honor twice.

“Tufts and Tufts Softball are truly grateful to Honda and The College Women Sports Awards for recognizing Allyson with the DIII Honda Athlete of the Year award again,” said Tufts Softball coach Cheryl Milligan. “It was a great year for women’s athletics. For Allyson and our team to be able to celebrate all of the accomplishments in LA will be a perfect way to cap the year. Allyson is very deserving of her part in this.”

THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 39 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service.   Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.0 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women’s athletics programs at the institutions.