Rachel Garcia and Bubba Nickles are both returning to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins team, while Dejah Mulipola is set to play for the Arizona Wildcats.

All three players planned to redshirt the 2020 season to compete for the US at Tokyo 2020 and prepare accordingly with the national team, only for the Olympics to be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The college softball season has also been wiped out by the pandemic.

"Given the uncertainty during these unprecedented times, USA Softball encouraged and supports the three current student-athletes returning to their respective NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] programs to complete their senior campaigns in the 2021 season," USA Softball said. 

"We also would like to thank the University of Arizona and UCLA for working with our program to ensure that Bubba, Dejah and Rachel can continue their pursuit of a gold medal with the US Olympic softball team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games."

Garcia and Nickles won a national title with UCLA in 2019 and the Bruins are still the defending champions, given their will be no winner this year.

The dual-threat Garcia dominated in the 2019 Women's College World Series (WCWS), going 5-0 on the mound and 5-for-15 at the plate, driving home eight runs.

Nickles went 7-for-20 at the WCWS, scoring seven runs.

Mulipola also had an impressive 2019 and won the Johnny Bench Catcher of the Year award which recognises the best catcher in college softball each season.

Both Mulipola and Garcia were in the US squad which won women's softball gold at the 2019 Pan American Games.