Playing softball since the age of seven, Monica played on the US Women’s National Softball Team in the summer of 2010, won the championship at the 2010 ISF XII Women’s World Championship in Caracas, Venezuela, and the KFC World Cup of Softball 5 in Oklahoma City. Prior to turning pro, she was a standout at the University of Tennessee. During her senior year of college, she set the record for the most strikeouts in a Division I softball season, and became the NCAA Division I Softball All-Time Leader on career wins, strikeouts, shutouts, innings pitched, games started and games pitched. She was the recipient of the 2007 Honda Sports Award for the Top Collegiate Softball Player in the country and was named the 2007 USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year. In 2008, Monica was one of three pitchers for the 15-person Olympic squad in the Summer Olympics in Beijing.
