LOGAN, Utah – Utah State sophomore catcher Grace Matej has been named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) all-Pacific Region second team, it was announced Saturday.
The award honors softball student-athletes from the association's 10 regions with first, second and third-team selections. NFCA member head coaches from each respective region nominated student-athletes and voted for the teams. All awarded student-athletes now become eligible for the 2022 NFCA Division I All-America squads.
All-time, 18 Utah State players have earned NFCA all-region honors a total of 25 times. Matej is just the second player to earn all-region second team or better honors since 1999. She is also the first Utah State underclassmen to be named to an all-region team since Victoria Saucedo in 2014.
Matej led the Aggies at the plate in 2024 after batting .405 (53-of-131), second-best in the Mountain West and fifth-best in program history, while posting a .580 slugging percentage. She recorded six doubles, five home runs and 28 RBIs in the campaign with 27 runs scored. The team's starting catcher in 39 of the 40 games she played in, Matej was nearly perfect with a .989 fielding percentage, recording 152 putouts and 21 assists with just two errors. In the 14 games played against top-75 RPI teams this season, Matej hit .394 with 13 hits, four RBIs and four runs scored.
The sophomore from Orangevale, California, also earned all-Mountain West second team accolades this season.
For more information on the Utah State softball program, follow the Aggies on Twitter at @USUSoftball, on Facebook at USUSoftball and on Instagram at ususoftball.
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