Roupe Earns CUSA Michael L. Slive Athlete of the Year Honor
6/25/2025 1:15:00 PM | Softball
Liberty's Rachel Roupe, a senior outfielder, has been named the 2024-25 CUSA Michael L. Slive Female Athlete of the Year.Â
This year's top student-athlete honorees were Roupe and Jax State men's basketball player Jaron Pierre, Jr. Roupe is the second Liberty student-athlete to be named Michael L. Slive Athlete of the Year, joining football standout Kaidon Salter from 2023-24.Â
The 2024-25 marked the 22nd season that CUSA honored Male and Female Athletes of the Year, and the eighth that the awards have been named in remembrance of CUSA's founding commissioner Mike Slive following his passing. The winners are determined by a vote of the conference's athletics directors.Â
A native of Sharpsburg, Md., Roupe has received numerous awards this season. Last week, she was named to the 2025 College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® Softball Team as a first-team honoree.
Earlier this spring, Roupe was named All-American by D1Softball (second team), Softball America (second team) and NFCA (third team). She also received the Rawlings Gold Glove. Her 2025 honors also include CUSA Player of the Year, CUSA All-Conference first team and CUSA All-Academic Team. Â
Roupe batted .390 with 19 doubles while setting new program records in single-season homers (23), RBI (73) and extra-base hits (43). She helped the Lady Flames make history by earning their first-ever Super Regional berth. In two games against the top-ranked Aggies on May 18, Roupe went a combined 5-for-9 with three homers, nine RBI and three runs scored. That included two homers in the winner-take-all final.
The Lady Flames finished the season with a 50-15 record, setting a new program record for single-season victories. Liberty won both the Conference USA regular-season and tournament titles for the second year in a row. The team made history at the 2025 NCAA Bryan-College Station Regional, winning two out of three games against No. 1 Texas A&M to earn its first-ever Super Regional appearance. The Lady Flames were the first team in the Super Regional era to knock out the No. 1 national seed in the Regional round.
Conference USA Michael L. Slive Athletes of the YearÂ
2024-25Â Â Â Â Â Jaron Pierre Jr., Jax State men's basketball/Rachel Roupe, Liberty softball
2023-24Â Â Â Â Â Kaidon Salter, Liberty football/Savannah Wheeler, MTSU women's basketball
2022-23Â Â Â Â Â Victor Kibiego, UTEP track & field/Lauren Matthews, WKU volleyballÂ
2021-22Â Â Â Â Â Bailey Zappe, WKU football/Grace Forbes, Rice cross country and track & field
2020-21Â Â Â Vitor Dias, Marshall men's soccer & Kigen Chemadi, MTSU track & field/Â
            Anastasia Hayes, MTSU women's basketballÂ
2019-20 Javion Hamlet, North Texas men's basketball/
Erica Ogwumike, Rice women's basketball
2018-19Â Â Â Â Â Jake Sanford, WKU baseball/ Erica Ogwumike, Rice women's basketballÂ
2017-18Â Â Â Â Â Nick Sandlin, Southern Miss baseball/Alyssa Cavanaugh, WKU volleyballÂ
2016-17Â Â Â Â Â Emmanuel Korir, UTEP track & field/Morgan Zerkle, Marshall softballÂ
2015-16Â Â Â Â Â Brandon Doughty, WKU football/Kylee Hanson, Florida Atlantic softballÂ
2014-15Â Â Â Â Â Anthony Rotich, UTEP track & cross country/Miranda Kramer, WKU softballÂ
2013-14Â Â Â Â Â Anthony Rotich, UTEP track & cross country/Ebony Rowe, MTSU basketballÂ
2012-13Â Â Â Â Â Anthony Rotich, UTEP track & cross country/Aurieyall Scott, UCF track & field
2011-12Â Â Â Â Â Case Keenum, Houston football/Camilla Carrera, UTEP softballÂ
2010-11Â Â Â Â Â Chad Zurcher, Memphis baseball/Tori Bowie, Southern Miss track & fieldÂ
2009-10Â Â Â Â Â Anthony Rendon, Rice baseball/Blessing Okagbare, UTEP track & fieldÂ
2008-09Â Â Â Â Â Jason Colwick, Rice track & field/
          Toni Paisley, ECU softball & Sara Radosevic, Tulane volleyball
2007-08Â Â Â Â Â Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis basketball/Angel Shamblin, Houston softballÂ
2006-07Â Â Â Â Â Joe Savery, Rice baseball/Ebonie Floyd, Houston track & fieldÂ
2005-06Â Â Â Â Â Brad Lincoln, Houston baseball & DeAngelo Williams, Memphis football/Â
           Jillian Robbins, Tulsa basketballÂ
2004-05Â Â Â Â Lance Broadway, TCU baseball/Sandora Irvin, TCU basketballÂ
2003-04Â Â Â Â Â Michael Kogan, Tulane tennis/Chandi Jones, Houston basketball
Players Mentioned
OF
/ SoftballCoach Richardson, Elena Escobar & Rachel Roupe Talk About The Game Against Oregon
Sunday, May 25
Coach Richardson, Rachel Roupe & Paige Doerr Talk About The Game Against Oregon
Saturday, May 24
Lady Flames Softball Podcast: Breaking Down Liberty vs. Oregon, Rachel Roupe Drafted and More!
Thursday, May 22
Coach Richardson Talks About Preparing For Oregon
Tuesday, May 20