CARBONDALE, Ill. – Four University of Evansville softball players earned All-Missouri Valley Conference recognition on Wednesday. It marked the first the Purple Aces have had four honorees since 2001.
 
Niki Bode was named to the All-MVC First Team while Kate Ridgway and Brooke Voss earned a spot on the All-MVC Second Team. Taylor Howe was given a nod on the league's All-Defensive squad.
 
Bode has been the most efficient batter for the Aces as she opens the league championship with a .389 batting average, which is 5^th in the MVC. Named the MVC Player of the Week on April 28, Bode batted .818 in four games that week against Northern Kentucky and UIC. With 18 doubles on the season, Bode is second in the conference with 18 doubles; her tally is tied for the third-highest single-season total in program history.
 
She was an All-MVC Second Team honoree in 2025 and is the first UE player to pick up a spot on the First Team since Eryn Gould in 2021.
 
Ridgway has been one of the league's most effective pitchers since the beginning of the season. She has thrown two no-hitters this season including the season opener versus Maine and a mid-week victory over Indiana State. Ridgway ranks second in the MVC and 40^th in the nation with 143 strikeouts. Her average of 6.95 strikeouts per seven innings is also second in the league. The sophomore was named the MVC Pitcher of the Week on March 24.
 
Voss enjoyed a stellar junior campaign that saw her rank in the top 20 in the league in multiple categories for the majority of the season including home runs, RBI, extra-base hits, and total bases. One of her top performances this season came in the win over defending Atlantic 10 Champion Saint Louis where she went 4-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, a walk, and triple along with picking up the game-winning hit.
 
Howe earned All-Defensive Team recognition for the second consecutive season. She has been one of the league's elite defenders in the outfield making numerous highlight reel catches throughout the season. Howe completed the regular season batting .299 while scoring a team-best 36 runs. Her run tally along with her mark of 12 doubles each rank in the top 15 in the conference.