ORLANDO – After the most successful campaign in program history, the UCF softball coaching staff has been named as the NFCA's Mid-East Region Coaching Staff of the Year.
Guided by head coach Cindy Ball-Malone, the coaching staff helped lead the Knights to a 49-win season, just one shy of tying a program high.
It was truly a year of firsts for the team, and that started with the tenure of the coaching staff. Assistant Coaches Whitney Jones and Tyler Heil, Volunteer Assistant Coach Kaija Gibson and Graduate Assistant Alea White were all in their first seasons of coaching at UCF.
The trend of firsts continued on the diamond as the Knights earned their first regular season conference title since 2015. UCF followed the first place finish up with a tournament title, beating Houston and South Florida on their way to the first tournament title since 2015. The Black and Gold heard their name called as a national seed on Selection Sunday for the first time in program history, earning hosting rights for NCAA Regionals. The history didn't stop there, as the Knights went through the bracket unscathed for the first time, followed by punching their first ticket to the Super Regional round with an 9-4 defeat of No. 24 Michigan in the Regional Final.
The UCF coaching staff was named unanimously as the American Athletic Conference's Coaching Staff of the year, becoming the third staff to win the honor at UCF, winning it for the first time since 2015. No UCF coaching staff has ever been recognized at the regional level.
Representing each of the NFCA's nine other Division I regions, these respective coaching staffs – University of Oklahoma, Northwestern University, Virginia Tech, University of Nebraska, Boston University, Oregon State University, University of Arkansas, Duke University and Arizona State University – also garnered Coaching Staff of the Year honors. These nine programs, along with UCF are eligible for the NFCA's Division I National Coaching Staff of the Year award, which will be announced on June 23.
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