WACO, TEXAS (Feb. 27, 2024) – Kayla Dreese of Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) garnered the Red River Athletic Conference (RRAC) Softball Player of the Week award for Feb. 19-25, while OLLU's Cassandra Valdez received her third straight RRAC Pitcher of the Week honor for the same dates. This is the fourth set of weekly winners for the 2024 RRAC softball season.

Dreese guided the Saints to a doubleheader sweep of Texas A&M University-San Antonio (TAMUSA) in a rematch of the teams that played in last year's RRAC championship game. The graduate outfielder from San Antonio was 6-for-8 batting with three runs, three doubles and a pair of RBIs as OLLU won 5-0 and 10-1. Dreese also stole two bases, and she is the conference leader in that category with 10. She also leads the RRAC in hits (19), and she is fifth in batting average (.500). OLLU, ranked seventh nationally, is 2-0 in conference play and 12-1 overall.

Valdez produced a complete game one-hit shutout to earn the win in the first game against TAMUSA. The graduate right-hander from Brownsville, Texas, struck out a career-high 13 hitters and walked three over seven innings of work. The lone hit came in the last inning as Valdez was seeking a no-hitter. In the second game, she homered twice and drove in five runs as a utility player. Valdez is first in the RRAC and fourth in the NAIA with 59 strikeouts. She leads the conference with a 0.67 ERA.