HUNTSVILLE | The 2016 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division II National Player of the Year Top 25 have been announced, and UAH's Kaitlyn Bannister is one of the 25 players in the running for the national honor.

SB: Kaitlyn Bannister is one of 25 remaining players up for the @NFCAorg National Player of the Year award! pic.twitter.com/iulsiV5DLW

— UAH Chargers (@UAHChargers) April 20, 2016

Bannister had previously earned a spot on the watch list for the award and has landed among this select group thanks to a terrific regular season to this point.
 
Only one other player from the Gulf South Conference earned a place on the list in Valdosta State's Kiley Rusen.
 
Bannister presently ranks third in the country in RBI with 60, and she ranks ninth in Division II in runs per game and 17th in home runs. A scan of the GSC statistical leaders finds Bannister's name listed eight times as she is tied for the league lead in RBI while ranking in the top 10 in batting average, slugging percentage, runs, hits, doubles, home runs and at-bats.
 
The reigning GSC and South Region Player of the Year, Bannister owns 21 multi-hit games this season to go along with 15 contests in which she has recorded at least a pair of RBI including five games with at least four and a season-high six that came in February against Simon Fraser, and twice this season she has registered a four-hit performance.
 
Bannister has also been strong again defensively, recording 129 assists from her third-base position, and she established a season-high with nine this past weekend against Mississippi College.
 
The Top 10 finalists will be announced on May 6 and the Top 3 on May 12 with the 2016 Schutt Sports NFCA Division II National Player of the Year revealed on Tuesday, May 17.
 
Behind the collaboration between the NFCA and the Division II Head Coaches Committee, and the generosity of Schutt Sports, the award was created in 2015 to honor the outstanding athletic achievement among softball student-athletes throughout Division II.