Melissa Holzopfel named female collegiate athlete of the year at Cleveland Sports Awards

Posted by author February 7, 2025 Sports

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CLEVELAND — There was some good news for Cleveland State University softball on the eve of the program’s final season opener.

Former Perry High School player Melissa Holzopfel was named the Female Collegiate Athlete of the Year at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards on Thursday. She was honored for her athletic excellence and good academic standing over the past year.

Holzopfel did not attend the awards show at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. She and her teammates are in Florida for the start of the 2025 season on Friday.

It has been an emotional few weeks for Holzopfel and the Vikings.

Cleveland State announced last month it will eliminate softball, women’s golf and wrestling in an attempt to address budgetary shortfalls across the university. Holzopfel is one of nine players from the Greater Akron-Canton area on this year’s team. She is a senior.

Holzopfel became the first Cleveland State player to earn first team All-Horizon League honors as a pitcher and position player. She led the league with 117 strikeouts and was second with a 1.84 ERA in league games. She was voted the league ournament MVP after she allowed five earned runs in 40 innings and led the Vikings to the title.

Offensively, Holzopfel ranked third in the league with a .382 batting average and 23 RBI. She also had a .632 slugging percentage.

Holzopfel won state championships in 2018 and 2021 at Perry.

Former McKinley and Bowling Green football player Harold Fannin Jr. was a finalist for male collegiate athlete of the year. The award went to John Carroll basketball player Luke Chicone.

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