The 1978-79 Softball teams were inducted into the AIC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2024 in recognition of the historic first conference titles for the program.
Judy Groff had founded the program in time for the 1969 season, and the program quickly took off, but it was a decade before the team reached championship status. In 1978, the team started 2-3, but did not lose again. Led by Debbie Rog and Kim Mortara as captains, the team went 12-0 to close the regular season, and then followed with a 3-0 mark at the MAIAW Championship, garnering the program's first title.
The following year, the team somehow was even better. They rattled off a 17-2 mark, and saw four players hit .400 or better. Christine Leone, a first-year player, was the ace of the staff, and fired not one but two no-hitters in the MAIAW Championship in 1979, a feat that remains unmatched in AIC history as no other Yellow Jacket pitcher has toss a no-no in the postseason twice in their careers, never mind in one postseason.
Along with being inducted as part of the 1976-79 Women's Volleyball teams and her prior inductions as an individual and as part of the 1997-98 Softball teams, Head Coach Judy Groff is now a four-time inductee into the AIC Athletics Hall of Fame, far and away the most of anyone in AIC history.
