LA MIRADA, Calif. ---  For the second-straight year, Biola Athletics is taking to social media and its website to announce its annual EDDIES awards. Since we were unable to announce our finalists and celebrate student-athletes in person with an end-of-year banquet, we will take the next two weeks to do so online and via social media to look back at the most memorable performances of Spring 2021.

We complete the process today by announcing the Winner of the prestigious Dr. Dave Holmquist Career Achievement Award. These honors are not given out every year or given to a certain number of student-athletes, but rather are intended to go to those whose careers at Biola stood out above the rest. The recipients of this award are those whose cumulative accomplishments at Biola are on par with those who land in the Biola Athletics Hall of Fame. It's meant to honor those who made a clear impact on their teams, within the conference and even at a national level.

The 2021 Dr. Dave Holmquist Career Achievement Award recipient is Biola Softball's Kayla Neff. 

An impactful leader on and off the field, Kayla Neff was sure to use her talents to play #4Him. Kayla Neff had a phenomenal career at Biola and left her legacy on the softball program, athletics department and university. During Neff's four plus years at Biola, the Eagles went 126-79-2, which included a transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II in 2018. 

Making history became routine for Neff who was part of two historic championship teams for Biola Softball. In 2019 she led the team to the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) Championship series where Biola finished as the runner-up.

In 2021, Neff helped the Eagles repeat their success, but this time at the NCAA Division II level. Neff led her team to an NCAA DII West Region Championship and all the way to the NCAA Division II Softball Championship series, where the Eagles finished one game shy of the national championship title. 

In 2019 Neff led the Eagles in nearly every batting category, as she hit for a .424 batting average, recorded 59 hits with 8 homeruns, drove in 34 runs, and scored 32 runs. 

Neff's performance during the 2019 season earned her selections to the NCCAA All-American First-Team, NFCA NCAA DII All-Region First Team, All-PacWest First Team and PacWest Player of the Year honors. 

Kayla earned all-conference selections from 2018-2021 and was named the PacWest Preseason Player of the Year in 2020 before the season was cut short after 23 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In 2021, Neff was named to the NCAA DII National Championships All-Tournament Team, D2CCA All-West Region Second Team, All-PacWest First Team, NFCA All-West Region Second Team, CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team and was nominated for the NCAA Woman of the Year award. 

Neff would finish her career as an Eagle with 201 games played, a career .349 batting average, 206 hits , 45 doubles (sixth in program history), 123 RBI (sixth in program history) and 21 homeruns (tied for third in program history). Behind the plate, Neff recorded 990 putouts (second in program history), 119 assists, and set a new program record for runners caught stealing with 50 and recorded a .979 fielding percentage. 

Thank you for your contributions over a tremendous career, Kayla.

Past Dr. Dave Holmquist Career Achievement Award Winners:
Kayla Neff (2021)
Madyson Brown & Gabe Plendcio (2020)
Austin Bishop (2019)
DeMoria White & Lisa Tixier (2018)
Joclyn Kirton & Dakari Archer (2017)

Head on over to our @BiolaAthletics Instagram account to leave some love for Kayla.

EDDIES Release Schedule 
July 5 - Finalists Announced - Female Newcomer of the Year 
July 6 - Finalists Announced - Male Newcomer of the Year
July 7 - Finalists Announced - Breakout Performance of the Year
July 8 - Finalists Announced - Female Student-Athlete of the Year
July 9 - Finalists Announced - Male Student-Athlete of the Year
July 12 - Winner Announced - Female Newcomer of the Year
July 13 - Winner Announced - Male Newcomer of the Year
July 14 - Winner Announced - Breakout Performance of the Year
July 15 - Winner Announced - Female Student-Athlete of the Year
July 16 - Winner Announced - Male Student-Athlete of the Year
July 19 - Winner Announced - Dr. Dave Holmquist Career Achievement Award