BRIDGEWATER, Va. --- Bridgewater has announced the hiring of Elisabeth "Lis" Schulz as the College's new head softball coach. Schulz spent the past three seasons as the assistant coach at Geneva College in Pennsylvania. She called pitches and coordinated pitching conditioning, coached first base and was heavily involved with recruiting and practice planning.
"Lis shows great potential as a coach and brings important skills and experiences to the position," said director of athletics Curt Kendall. "Her pitching expertise will be a major asset, as will her experience as a recruiting coordinator."
"I am very excited to be an Eagle and eager to get to know and work with the faculty and staff here at Bridgewater," said Schulz. "I can't wait to meet the team and share my passion and love for the game with them. I look forward to keeping the tradition and history of success in the Bridgewater College softball program going."
Geneva reached the 2013 and 2014 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) championship games and had a record of 65-55 during Schulz' three seasons as an assistant.
"Coach Schulz has developed great relationships with our players through her own personal experiences on the field and by gaining their respect based on her knowledge of the game and approach every single day," said Geneva softball coach and director of athletics Van Zanic. "She has an incredible work ethic and a competitive fire that brings the most out of every student-athlete that she instructs."
"Lis is ready to become a head coach at the college level," Zanic added. "There is no aspect of coaching at the college level that she has not experienced. I have continually given her additional responsibilities and she has taken each challenge and performed admirably."
Schulz was a graduate assistant at her alma mater, Westminster College, in 2012. She was the program's recruiting coordinator, organized strength and conditioning workouts and was involved with on-field coaching and practice planning.
A four-year All-PAC selection at Westminster, Schulz earned first team honors in 2010 and 2011 after second team selections in 2008 and 2009. She was a two-year captain, a 2010 NFCA All-Region selection and Westminster's 2011 team MVP.
She graduated in 2011 from Westminster with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication studies and finished a Masters of Higher Education in 2013 while working as a graduate assistant there.
Schulz has also worked as a personal pitching coach and did her senior capstone project on the sport. Her study on communication research gathered survey data and examined leadership and communication in the context of a college softball team.
Schulz was selected by a search committee that included faculty, staff and Bridgewater softball alum Lisa Rhodes '07.
Bridgewater has sponsored varsity softball since 1988, with the Eagles compiling an all-time mark of 659-386-1 over that time.
--- This release is courtesy of the Bridgewater College sports information department. ---
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