NORFOLK, Va. – The North Carolina Central University softball team won its first MEAC Softball Championship last year and the Eagles return seven players from that title run that were selected to the 2024 preseason teams as announced by the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
 
Senior Imara Harrell and sophomores Takia Nichols and Makiya Graves were all voted to the Preseason All-MEAC First Team while the senior trio of Jaylah Barr, Maegan Garrison and Ivory Jones joined junior Jaden Davis on the Preseason All-MEAC Second Team.
 
The Eagles, who finished third in the 2023 regular season standings before winning four out of their first five postseason games to secure their first MEAC title, are picked second out of eight teams in the 2024 MEAC Preseason Predicted Order of Finish poll behind the defending regular season champion Morgan State University. The Eagles are led by reigning MEAC Coach of the Year Cat Tarvin and NCCU received five of the possible 16 first-place votes after going to its first ever NCAA Division I regional last season.
 
Senior outfielder Imara Harrell earned First Team All-MEAC accolades last season as one of NCCU's top hitter in league play, batting .431 against conference competition with eight extra-base hits (4 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR), 10 RBI, 14 runs and five stolen bases. Harrell finished her junior campaign with a .313 overall batting average and eight stolen bases.
 
After capping her rookie season as a MEAC All-Tournament Team honoree in 2011, Harrell was able to recover from injury that kept her out of the lineup in 2022 and earn preseason attention heading into her senior season. Harrell has a .311 career batting average at NCCU with 18 stolen bases.
 
Sophomore first baseman Takia Nichols provided a big impact bat in the middle of NCCU's lineup as a newcomer, earning First Team All-MEAC honors in 2023. She led the maroon and gray with 28 walks, .569 slugging percentage and .459 on-base percentage for a staggering 1.028 OPS. Nichols also ranked second on the team with a .338 batting average, eight home runs and 31 RBI.
 
In her first collegiate season, Nichols collected a pair of MEAC Rookie of the Week awards (March 27, April 10) as she supplied a team-best four home runs and 15 RBI in 19 league games. Other highlights of her rookie season included a 19-game reached base streak, a seven-game hit streak, 10 multi-hit games and seven multi-RBI games.
 
Sophomore shortstop Makiya Graves earned MEAC Rookie of the Year attention last season while joining Harrell and Nichols on the All-MEAC First Team as one of the best hitters in the league. Graves jumped into the leadoff role for the Eagles and was NCCU's table setter all season long with a team-best .357 batting average, including a .441 average in 19 league tilts. She topped the MEAC with 62 total hits. Graves also led the Eagles with eight doubles and 29 runs as she ranked in the top-10 of the league in each of those statistical categories.
 
Graves finished her rookie season ranked the third toughest batter to strikeout in NCAA Division I, going an average of 41.2 plate appearances between K's. She was the only Eagle to start all 54 games last season, making at least one start at all four infield positions before becoming a staple at shortstop. She earned MEAC Rookie of the Week honors on April 3 and led NCCU with 13 multi-hit games, including a five-hit performance, to go along with a team-best, nine-game hit streak.
 
Sophomore pitcher and utility player Jaden Davis has earned numerous awards in each of her first two seasons with the Eagles, including Second Team All-MEAC honors at the pitcher position last season. Davis was recognized as the Most Outstanding Performer in the 2023 MEAC Softball Championship as she also earned MEAC All-Tournament status for a second straight campaign. 
 
Davis was NCCU's statistical leader in most pitching categories last season, including wins (10), ERA (3.47), strikeouts (94), innings pitched (159.1) and complete games (16). She finished the season ranked second in the league in total strikeouts after tossing two complete-game victories with 13 strikeouts in NCCU's MEAC postseason winning run after posting a stellar 1.94 ERA in 12 conference regular season games.
 
The two-way player has also been successful in NCCU's lineup, earning NCCU team MVP honors as a rookie after leading the Eagles with a .315 batting average, 47 hits and 11 stolen bases as a freshman. Davis batted over .300 again as a sophomore and capped her second campaign by hitting safely in all five MEAC postseason games with six runs scored.
 
Senior third baseman Maegan Garrison drove in a team-high 32 RBI last season on the way to earning a spot on the All-MEAC Softball Teams for a second straight season. She has now retained Preseason All-MEAC attention for a third consecutive year after hitting eight home runs last year and ranking as one of the top run-producing power bats in the conference, ranking in the top-10 of the MEAC in both home runs and RBI.
 
Garrison, who earned one MEAC Player of the Week last season, has played in 140 career games for the Eagles over the past four years and has accumulated 46 runs scored, 30 extra-base hits (13 home runs) and 54 RBI representing the maroon and gray. She started all 19 games in league play last season and had a .289 batting average in those contests with team-best totals of four home runs and 15 RBI.
 
Senior outfielder Ivory Jones was selected Second Team All-MEAC in her first season with the Eagles after leading the conference with nine home runs. She also totaled 27 RBI, 25 runs and eight stolen bases in 2023.
 
Jones, who has 97 games of collegiate experience at Tennessee State University, also earned one MEAC Player of the Week award last year.
 
Senior second baseman Jaylah Barr returns to the preseason list announced by the MEAC for a third straight season. Barr was recognized as a MEAC Player of the Week last season and an All-MEAC First Team honoree in 2022.
 
Barr, who has seen time at multiple infield positions in her time at NCCU as well as the pitcher's circle, has played in 120 games over her first three seasons with the Eagles, including 114 starts. She has a .247 collegiate career batting average with 25 extra-base hits (11 home runs), 42 RBI and 42 runs.
 
The NCCU softball team will begin its 2024 season with five games at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Florida, on Friday-Sunday, Feb. 9-11.
 
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