PRINCETON, N.J. – Following a vote of the League’s eight head coaches, the Ivy League revealed its All-Ivy softball teams and major award winners for the 2023 season.
 
Princeton captured three major honors as Serena Starks was unanimously named the Player of the Year and Alexis Laudenslager was the consensus Pitcher of the Year, while head coach Lisa Van Ackeren was named the Coach of the Year. Harvard’s Riley Flynn garnered Rookie of the Year accolades.
 
Starks is Princeton’s first Ivy League Player of the Year since Jamie Lettire was Co-Player of the Year in 2008. Starks, who was a unanimous choice as Player of the Year, was also selected to the first team. Starks batted .411 out of the lead-off spot for the Tigers which led the conference by over 40 points. The outfielder tallied 65 total hits, over 20 more than the next player in the category, and also led the conference with 36 runs scored. In conference action alone, Starks batted an eye-catching .468 with five doubles, 11 RBI and 21 runs scored. During the conference season, Starks was on base nearly 50-percent of the time.
 
Princeton ace Alexis Laudenslager was unanimously selected as the Pitcher of the Year and to the All-Ivy first team for the second-straight season after leading the Tigers to a 2023 Ivy League Championship. Laudenslager went 12-2 in the circle during the conference season, posting a 1.87 ERA through 75 innings pitched. Laudenslager held opponents to a .175 batting average and struck out 97 batters during conference play. In all, Laudenslager retired a conference-high 159 batters via the K this season through 122.2 innings pitched. This season, Laudenslager fired three no-hitters in conference play against Yale, Brown and Columbia and was one of two Ivy League pitchers to reach double-digit wins on the season.
 
Harvard pitcher Riley Flynn made an instant impact for the Crimson as she posted a 6-1 overall record in the circle, striking out a team-high 80 batters which was fourth in the Ivy League. In addition to making 10 starts in the circle, Flynn also came in in clutch situations and posted five saves. Flynn played a large part in helping Harvard to a 2023 Ivy League softball crown as she went 3-1 in the circle with a 1.71 ERA through 45 innings of work. Flynn struck out 42 Ivy batters and limited opponents to a .134 batting average within the League. In addition to top rookie honors, Flynn was named to the Ivy League second team.
 
For the second-straight season, Princeton head coach Lisa Van Ackeren was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year. Van Ackeren’s peers have now voted her Coach of the Year a league-leading five times since the award was introduced in2015. Van Ackeren and the Tigers went 26-18 overall and were 16-5 in Ivy play, capturing Princeton’s 21st Ivy League Championship and second since 2017.
 
Harvard led the way on the first team with four honorees including first baseman Madi Mays, shortstop Trina Hoang, outfielder Megan Welsh and designated player Finley Payne. Of the group, Mays batted a team-high .358 on the season with a .393 average in conference play. Mays also led Harvard with 24 RBI’s on the season and added seven doubles. Yale totaled three All-Ivy first team selections including second baseman Libby Peoples who tied for a league-best 13 doubles, third baseman Lauren Perren and outfielder Alex Perren, who was one of two unanimous first team choices. Alex Perren drove in a conference-high 33 runs this season and was second in the league with eight home runs. During conference play, Alex Perren batted .452 at the dish which ranked second within the league.
 
Brown had two First Team All-Ivy honorees including the battery of Alexis Guevara and Moe Kastens. Guevara was second in the Ivy League in innings pitched with 58 strikeouts, which was second in the league in both categories. Rounding out the first team was Columbia’s Bubba Gleaves at third base, Dartmouth’s Kate Farren at shortstop, Cornell’s Emma Antich as a utility player, and Penn’s Bella Fiorentino at pitcher/utility.
 
Harvard had an additional three players named to the second team including Rookie of the Year Riley Flynn, while Princeton named three to the second team as well. Columbia also had three representatives on the second team while Dartmouth, Brown and Cornell all had two. Cornell’s Lauren Holt was represented on the second team who led the Ivy League with nine homers.
 
In addition to their strong efforts on the field, eight representatives were named to the Academic All-Ivy team including Brown’s Jodie Aguirre, Columbia’s Madison Rifenberick, Cornell’s Maicie Levitt, Dartmouth’s Maria Angelino, Harvard’s Brianna Jewett, Penn’s Bella Fiorentino, Princeton’s Adrienne Chang, and Yale’s Nicole Conway.
 
Player of the Year:
Serena Starks, Princeton* (Sr., OF – Huntington Beach, Calif.)
 
Pitcher of the Year:
Alexis Laudenslager, Princeton* (Sr., P – San Diego, Calif.)
 
Rookie of the Year
Riley Flynn, Harvard (Fr., P – Phoenix, Ariz.)
 
Coach of the Year:
Lisa Van Ackeren, Princeton
 
First Team:
P - Alexis Laudenslager, Princeton* (Sr., P – San Diego, Calif.)
P – Alexis Guevara, Brown (So., P – Chula Vista, Calif.)
C – Moe Kastens, Brown (Jr., C – Edwardsville, Ill.)
1B – Madi Mays, Harvard (Sr., Pleasant Hill, Calif.)
2B – Libby Peoples, Yale  (Fr., INF – Bothell, Wash.)
3B – Bubba Gleaves, Columbia (Sr. 3B – Post Falls, Idaho)
3B – Lauren Perren, Yale (So., INF – Hattiesburg, Mass.)
SS – Kate Farren, Dartmouth (Sr., INF – Murrieta, Calif.)
SS – Trina Hoang, Harvard (Sr., SS – Irvine, Calif.)
OF – Megan Welsh, Harvard (So., C/UTL – Mishawaka, Ind.)
OF – Serena Starks, Princeton (Sr., OF – Huntington Beach, Calif.)
OF – Alex Perren, Yale* (So., OF – Hattiesburg, Miss.)
UTIL – Emma Antich, Cornell (So., UTIL – Portland, Ore.)
P/UTIL – Bella Fiorentino, Penn (Sr., P – Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.)
DP – Finley Payne, Harvard (Fr., INF – Liberty Township, Ohio)
 
Second Team:
P – Rachel McCarroll, Dartmouth (So., P – San Jose, Calif.)
P – Riley Flynn, Harvard (Fr., P – Phoenix, Ariz.)
C – Celia Macari, Cornell (Sr., C – North Providence, R.I.)
1B – Kelly Beaupre, Dartmouth (Jr., 1B – Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.)
2B – Kendall Jean, Harvard (Jr., 2B – Stillwater, Okla.)
3B – Meghan Gormley, Brown (Sr., INF – North Kingstown, R.I.)
3B – Julia Dumais, Princeton (Fr., 3B – Cambria, N.Y.)
SS – Jaden Hill, Columbia (Jr., UTIL – Laguna Beach, Calif.)
SS – Grace Jackson, Princeton (Jr., SS – Berwyn, Pa.)
OF – Cami Neal, Columbia (So., OF – Gilbert, Ariz.)
OF – Lauren Bobowski, Harvard (Jr., OF – Macomb, Mich.)
UTIL – Dara English, Brown (Jr., UT – Redondo Beach, Calif.)
OF – Allison Ha, Princeton (So., OF – Simi Valley, Calif.)
P/UTIL – Raquel Reyes, Columbia (Jr., P – Placentia, Calif.)
DP – Lauren Holt, Cornell (Fr., C/INF – Loveland, Ohio)
 
Honorable Mention:
P – Anna Reed, Harvard (Sr., P – San Luis Obispo, Calif.)
C – Mary Beth Cahalan, Dartmouth (Jr., C – Midland, Ga.)
C – Allison Heffley, Harvard (Sr., C – Lemoore, Calif.)
C – Sam Goodcase, Yale (Jr., C – Camarillo, Calif.)
2B – Megan Ryono, Columbia (Sr., 2B – Huntington Beach, Calif.)
OF – Jasmine Hsiao, Brown (Fr., OF – Mountain View, Calif.)
OF – Lily Berlinger, Brown (Fr., OF – Thousand Oaks, Calif.)
OF – Alaana Panu, Dartmouth (So., OF – Los Gatos, Calif.)
OF – Savannah Fitzpatrick, Harvard (So., OF – Marengo, Ohio)
UT – Laurel Moody, Brown (So., UTIL – Carlsbad, Calif.)
P/UTIL – Maddie Latta, Yale (So., P/UTIL – Jacksonville, Fla.)
DP – Lauren Ben-Ezra, Dartmouth (Fr., OF – Poughkeepsie, N.Y.)
DP – Adrienne Chang, Princeton (Sr., DP – Valencia, Calif.)