LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Five members of the Cal State San Marcos softball team were named All-Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) Conference and head coach Laurie Nevarez was dubbed A.I.I. Co-Coach of the Year at the A.I.I. Conference Championship banquet on Wednesday night on the campus of Georgia Gwinnett College.

Designated player Naomi Amu, centerfielder Caylyn Rodriguez, shortstop Melyssa Bellamy and pitcher Ashley Dagenais took home A.I.I. First Team honors, while right fielder Robyn Alvara was listed on the A.I.I. Second Team.

It's the first A.I.I. Coach of the Year honor for the second-year head coach. Nevarez led CSUSM to a 33-12 overall and the top overall seed for the A.I.I. Conference Championship tournament, which begins Thursday afternoon for the Cougars against the winner of No. 4 Ashford and No. 5 British Columbia.

CSUSM was ranked in the NAIA Top 25 every week of the regular season.

Bellamy and Dagenais were named to the first team after being second-team honorees a season ago. It is the first conference award for Amu, Rodriguez and Alvara.

Amu, a senior from Oceanside, is having a standout campaign in what will be her only season in Cougar blue. She leads the NAIA in home runs (19) and ranks second in RBI (66). She leads the Cougars in nearly every statistical category: batting average (.411), home runs, RBI, total bases (113), slugging percentage (1.018), walks (38) and on-base percentage (.613). In addition, she's 4-2 with a 2.36 ERA in 10 appearances in the circle.

Rodriguez, a junior out of Riverside, is hitting .444 as the leadoff batter and leads the team with 56 hits and 15 doubles. She's knocked in 21 runs and has posted a .943 fielding percentage in center. Over her last six games, Rodriguez is hitting a blistering .609 (10-for-14).

Dagenais has been a steady presence in the circle for CSUSM during her sophomore season, putting together a 14-7 campaign with a 2.96 ERA in 27 appearances and 21 starts. The Laguna Niguel-native pitched the most innings (137.1) of any CSUSM hurler and has limited opposing batters to a .261 batting average.

Bellamy, a junior out of Hesperia, started the Cougars' first 27 games before an injury sent her to the bench for an extended period of time. She hit .358 with 21 RBI, three home runs and six doubles before the injury.

Alvara is hitting .369 with five home runs and 33 RBI in her junior season after transferring from Arizona Western. A Fresno native, Alvara is 5-for-9 with three extra base hits over her last three appearances.

For more on the A.I.I. Conference Championship, click here.