EMMITSBURG, Md. - Kristen Collins (Abion, N.J./Glouchester Catholic), a member of the Mount St. Mary's softball team, has been named the Akadema/Northeast Conference (NEC) Rookie of the Week for the week of Mar. 1-7. It is the freshman's first conference honor.

Collins, a 5-6 outfielder, batted .538 with seven hits, three runs scored, a home run and four RBIs in seven games. The freshman helped the Mount to a doubleheader sweep of North Carolina Central on Mar. 1 by going 4-for-5 with a home run, four RBIs and three runs scored. Collins went 2-for-2 including two singles, a run scored and an RBI in the sixth inning in a 12-0 win against the Eagles. The freshman then went 2-for-3 with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored in a 9-0 against North Carolina Central. Collins helped get the Mountaineers started in the first inning of the nightcap against the Eagles with a three-run home run in the first inning and then singled and scored in the second inning. She added three hits at the 2010 Maryland Round Robin Tournament over the weekend.

It marks the second-straight week a Mount player has been recognized by the league after freshman hurler Nicole Pagano (Berlin, N.J./St. Joseph) was tabbed as the NEC Pitcher and Rookie of the Week for the week of Feb. 22-28.

It marks the ninth NEC Rookie of the Week honor for Mount St. Mary's dating back to the 1998 season. The squad has five players on the 2010 roster that have been named NEC Rookie of the Week. Along with Collins and Pagano, juniors Jenna Zimmerman (Walkersville, Md./Walkersville) and Courtney Zingle (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) nabbed the honor in 2008 and sophomore Taylor Beebe (Olympia, Wash./Capital) received the award last season.

The Mount (7-5) returns to action on Tuesday at the Mason Mid-Week Invitational. The squad will face the host Patriots at 12 p.m. and Hampton at 5 p.m.