NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Notre Dame senior OF Abby Sweet earned the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor, given to the conference’s top student-athlete in the classroom and on the field. She joins four additional Irish teammates — junior OF Emma Clark, senior P Alexis Holloway, graduate student IF Katie Marino and junior P Payton Tidd — on the 2021 All-ACC Academic Team.
Notre Dame’s five selections to the team are the third-most by any program in the conference, just one selection behind the conference-leading figure of six.
The honor marks Marino’s third selection to the All-ACC Academic Team, while Sweet, Holloway and Clark each earn their second. Tidd is a first-time honoree.
ABBY SWEET
Sweet was selected to the NFCA All-America Second Team in 2021, earning the first All-American honor of her career. Also a two-team captain, Sweet was a first-team All-ACC and first-team NFCA All-Region (Mid-Atlantic) selection this season. She was a Top 25 Finalist for USA Softball Player of the Year, as well as a three-time ACC Player of the Week in 2021 alone.
Sweet graduated this spring with an undergraduate degree in management consulting, and will pursue a Master of Science in Business analytics during the 2021-22 season.
EMMA CLARK
Clark consistently ranked in the Top 10 in the ACC in batting in 2021, finishing the season at fourth in avg. (.404) and sixth in total hits (61). A first-team NFCA All-Region and second-team All-ACC selection, she also ranked fifth in the ACC in stolen bases (26), and wrote her name in the history books against North Alabama, stealing four bases to match a single-game program record. She joined Ruth Kmak as the only two players in Irish history to steal four bases in a game.
Clark is an accountancy major, with a minor in sociology.
ALEXIS HOLLOWAY
An NFCA All-Region Second Team honoree in 2021, Holloway (14-7) ranked eighth in the ACC in strikeouts (111). A candidate for the Senior CLASS Award, Holloway pitched 11 complete games on the season. Through her 125.1 innings pitched in 2021, the two-time team captain held batters to a .229 average. Up to bat, Holloway totaled 14 hits, with two doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI. Holloway was named ACC Pitcher of the Week for her performance in the sweep of then No. 15/13 Virginia Tech.
Holloway earned her undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering this spring, and will pursue a Master of Science in Management in 2021-22.
KATIE MARINO
Graduate student Marino has perennially been recognized as one of the conference’s top second basemen, and was selected first-team NFCA All-Region and third-team All-ACC in 2021. She led ACC in sacrifice bunts per game (0.19) and ranked fourth in sacrifice flies. Marino, one of the first two graduate students in program history, finished her career ranked in the Top 10 in Irish records in walks, assists, home runs and runs scored.
Marino earned her undergraduate degree in 2020, and will prepare to attend PA school in the future.
PAYTON TIDD
Tidd (15-6), a first-team All-Region selection, led the Irish in innings pitched with 131.1. She pitched nine complete games on the season and been part of four shutouts, with one complete game shutout. Also adding a save, Tidd joined with Irish pitchers Holloway and Morgan Ryan for two combined no-hitters in 2021. At bat, Tidd totaled 12 hits, including eight extra-base hits (five doubles, three home runs) with 10 RBI, and was named third team All-ACC this season.
Tidd is a psychology major, with a supplementary major in pre-health studies.