Knight Named An NFCA All-Region Selection; Four Redbirds Selected To MVC Scholar-Athlete Team

ST. LOUIS – Illinois State senior first baseman Abby Knight earned a pair of postseason honors on Thursday, by earning 2025 NFCA Division I All-Midwest Region First Team honors and she was joined by three of her teammates on the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Team as well.

One of nine student-athletes from the MVC to earn a spot on one of the NFCA's All-Region teams, Knight was one of three to be named a first-team selection, joining Belmont's Maya Johnson (South Region) and UNI's Kate Lappe (Midwest Region). Conference players and pitchers of the year from member institutions (must be nominated by member head coach and receive votes) are added to the third team if they were not already voted to an All-Region squad. The 2025 NFCA Division I All-America teams, voted on by the NFCA DI All-American Committee, will be announced on Wednesday, May 28.

Knight, a Bloomington, Illinois native, dominated in the heart of the order for the Redbirds while playing a stellar first base during Valley play to earn All-MVC First Team honors at first base. She held a .365 conference batting average with a .834 OPS and was fifth among Valley players with 35 hits during league play. Her 15 runs scored, four doubles, one home run and 13 RBI solidified her spot on the all-conference list, and her perfect fielding percentage at first base with 211 putouts and three assists made her one of the top players in the league defensively. Overall, Knight led the team with a .344 batting average and paced the team in hits (62), doubles (11) while finishing second in runs batted in (19).

In addition to her NFCA recognition, Knight joined teammates Addison Masching, Delainey Bryant, and Hannah Meshnick on the 2025 MVC Scholar-Athlete Team.  Masching and Bryant were among seventeen conference softball student-athletes named to the 2025 MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team, while Knight and Meshnick were named MVC Scholar-Athlete Second-Team selections as voted on by the league's softball sports information directors. In order to be eligible, student-athletes must have at 3.5 GPA or higher, be at least a sophomore in athletic and academic standing and meet certain playing requirements.

Bryant, a Mattoon, Illinois native, was selected to the All-MVC First Team for the third time in her career and is also a three-time MVC Scholar-Athlete First-Team selection (2023 & 2024). During the conference season, she hit .347 at the top of the Redbird lineup and was sixth in league play with 34 hits. She finished Valley play with a .348 BA, with a .871 OPS, 19 runs scored, two home runs and six RBI while posting a .469 SLG%. In the field, she had 58 putouts and 51 assists to post a .956 fielding percentage, while starting every game at second base for the Birds. She finished the season hitting .311 while leading the team with home runs with four. For her performances in the MVC Tournament, Bryan earned a spot on the All-Tournament team.

Masching, a Pontiac, Illinois, native, earns MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team honors for the second-straight year, after batting .280 in conference play with a team-high seven doubles and 15 RBI. In the field, she recorded 38 putouts while putting together a .952 fielding percentage in 49 chances. Overall, the senior was third on the team with a .282 average and 49 hits and tied for the team lead in doubles with 11 while pacing the team with 25 RBI on the year. For her performances in the MVC Tournament, Masching earned a spot on the All-Tournament team.

Meshnick, a Hortonville, Wisconsin native, earned her first All-Valley Second Team accolade during her junior campaign. Meshnick was the Redbirds' most consistent pitcher in the circle during Valley play, going 9-3 with a 3.04 ERA in 19 appearances. She started 13 games in MVC play, going the distance five times with 94.1 total innings pitched (third in the MVC). Conference opponents hit just .258 against her, while her 55 strikeouts in league play ranked fifth overall and her nine wins were fourth best in the MVC. Overall, she led the squad with a 13-11 record and a team-best 91 strikeouts to go along with a 3.34 ERA.

For updates on Illinois State Softball, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdsSB), Instagram (@redbirdsoftball), and Facebook (Illinois State Redbird Softball).

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App:  Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.