SAN DIEGO – San Diego State head softball coach Stacey Nuveman Deniz has announced her team’s signees for the freshman class of 2026. The Aztecs, winners of the last three Mountain West championships (two tournament, one regular season), are bringing in Emma French (Benicia, Calif.), Tylie Kitchen (Rocklin, Calif.), Matti Kwarta (Red Bluff, Calif.), Montserrat Reyes-Cardenas (Whittier, Calif.), Alissa Snipes (Chico, Calif.) and Andrea Tall (Fremont, Calif.) for the 2026 season.
A shortstop, French is entering her senior season at Benicia High School. She has lettered in three seasons for the Panthers, including serving as team captain in the last two. French got off to a hot start to her high school career, helping Benicia High to a second-place finish as a freshman while earning team Co-MVP and offensive MVP honors and landing on the All-DAL First Team. In her first season, she finished with a .419 batting average, a 1.173 OPS, five home runs and 40 RBIs. As a sophomore, French hit .398 with a 1.027 OPS while driving in 20 runs and landing on the all-league and all-state First Teams. She achieved the same accolades last season while increasing her numbers at the dish to a .476 batting average, a 1.236 OPS and 38 runs batted in. French has also excelled in the classroom, as she was named a North Coast Section President’s Scholar-Athlete in each of her three high school seasons so far.
Primarily a third baseman, Kitchen has also spent time at first base and in the outfield. She is heading into her fourth season at Whitney High School. She broke out her sophomore year, leading the Wildcats to a CIF Championship while pacing the roster in batting average, home runs, doubles, hits, slugging percentage, on base percentage, walks and OPS. For her efforts, Kitchen was named to the All-NorCal First Team, the all-city team, the all-section first team and the all-league first team. She also won the team offensive MVP and all-state honorable mention honors. As a junior, she was named All-NorCal, all-section, all-league and All-Sacramento while picking up the ninth spot in the Sacramento Softball Top 65.
Kwarta is a two-way player, pitching and spending time at catcher and first base for the Red Bluff Lady Spartans. She has earned a spot on the all-league first team and team MVP honors in each of her three seasons with the Lady Spartans. A captain the last two seasons, Kwarta has raked at the dish, tallying a 1.604 OPS as a sophomore before raising it to an astonishing 1.974 OPS as a junior with ten home runs and 32 RBIs. In the circle last season, she shut down the opposition with a 2.16 ERA.
After playing at La Serna High School as a freshman, Reyes-Cardenas transferred to La Mirada High for the remainder of her high school career. In her sophomore year, her first season playing for the Matadores, Reyes-Cardenas helped the team to a Gateway League title, while earning Pitcher of the Year and a spot on the all-league first team with a 1.04 ERA and 121 strikeouts. Her numbers as a junior only improved as her 0.55 ERA and 181 strikeouts earned her 15 wins as the team repeated as champions. Reyes-Cardenas again was named Pitcher of the Year and First Team All-Gateway League while also picking up an All-CIF Southern Section Team Award. She has found similar success in the classroom, being named to the honor roll as a freshman and sophomore as well as the junior honor guard last year.
Another two-way player, Snipes has lettered in two seasons for the Pleasant Valley Vikings. In her first season, she led the team to a section title while earning a spot on the All-Eastern Athletic League First Team. At the plate, Snipes hit .385 while reaching base at a .443 clip, driving in 15 runs, scoring 27 times and hitting one home run. In the circle, she struck out 22 hitters in 11 innings. As a junior last year, she was named league MVP while leading the team to another section championship. She increased her numbers to a .511 batting average, a .578 on-base percentage, 42 RBIs, 44 runs scored and 11 long balls. She tallied 93 punchouts in just 53 innings as a pitcher.
Tall is another shortstop, heading into her fourth season on the varsity squad for the Newark Memorial Cougars. A first team all-league selection in each of her three seasons so far, Tall has been swinging a hot bat since the start of her high school career. As a freshman, she tallied a .461 batting average, 1.207 OPS, 20 RBIs, 28 runs scored and 12 extra base hits including a pair of home runs. She leveled up as a sophomore, hitting .568 with a 1.689 OPS, 19 runs driven in, 27 runs scored and a dozen extra base hits including a trio of homers. Last season, Tall hit .426 with a 1.681 OPS, 20 RBIs, 39 runs scored and 20 extra base hits including nine triples and seven home runs. Off the field, Tall serves as the president of the Newark Memorial High School Student Athlete Advisory Council.
San Diego State is coming off its third regional appearance in three seasons under Stacey Nuveman Deniz. The Aztecs (31-20) went 15-7 in Mountain West play to win the regular season title and the top seed in the conference tournament, where they went 3-0 to win their second consecutive tournament championship.