SAN MARCOS, Calif. – Jillian Albayati and Jayline Sloss represented Cal State San Marcos on the 2025 NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year Watchlist as announced by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) on Thursday.
 
The Player of the Year award was created in 2015 to honor the outstanding athletic achievements among softball student-athletes throughout NCAA Division II. In 2019, the Association expanded the award to include a Player and Pitcher of the Year. The list is broken down into the eight NCAA Regions (Atlantic, Central, East, Midwest, South, South Central, Southeast and West) with up to 15 student-athletes represented in each region. The list is compiled by the elected members of the NFCA Division II All-American Committee with one head coach representing each of the eight NCAA regions. To be eligible, a student-athlete's head coach must be a member.
 
Voted on by the NFCA's Division II All-American Committee, the 2025 NFCA Player and Pitcher of the Year winners will be announced on May 30 following the conclusion of the NCAA Division II National Championships. All student-athletes are eligible for the end-of-the-season award and do not have to be on this list to be considered.

Albayati is leading CSUSM with a .439 batting average, .659 slugging percentage and .466 on-base percentage. She is leading the CCAA in assists per game (2.92), ranking fourth in Division II. She has tallied a team-best 11 multi-hit games and is currently on a 12-game hit streak, longest this season by the Cougars.
Sloss, the reigning CCAA Pitcher of the Year, is boasting a 2.01 ERA. She has tallied nine victories, five complete games and two saves. The Bakersfield native has accumulated a 9-3 record in 73.0 innings, limiting opponents to a .252 batting average.
 
Joining Sloss and Albayati on the list from the CCAA are Cal State San Bernardino's Tereise Tosi, San Francisco State's Kai DeLeon, Sonoma State's Charlie Johnson, Cal Poly Humboldt's Alyssa Smokey as well as Ashlee Toy and Marissa Quintero of Cal State East Bay.
 
The No. 15 Cougars are traveling up to Cal Poly Humboldt this weekend to take on the Lumberjacks in a four-game series starting with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Friday at Bear River Sports Complex.