First-year Nevada softball coach Matt Meuchel has completed his coaching staff with the retention of assistant coach Melanie Meuchel and the hiring of Lisa Dodd as an assistant coach.
“I am extremely excited about our ability to hire both Melanie Meuchel and Lisa Dodd,” Matt Meuchel said. “Both have an exceptional knowledge of the game and more importantly are great teachers of the game. We feel very lucky to have two of the bright young assistant coaches in the business.”
Dodd comes to Nevada after a brilliant playing career at perennial powerhouse UCLA. She was a three-time All-Region and All-Pac-10 selection, starring at the plate and in the circle for the Bruins. As a pitcher, she had a career 41-11 record with a 1.47 ERA and 233 strikeouts. As a batter, she had 36 career home runs and 129 RBI for the Bruins. She missed only two games in her career and spent the 2008 season as an undergraduate assistant coach for UCLA.
“The hiring of Lisa Dodd was a huge victory for our program,” Matt Meuchel said. “She was a very sought-after young coach who has a great understanding of what it takes to win national championships. She will bring a lot of different things to our program and will be integral in our climb up the ladder of the elite programs in college softball.”
Melanie Meuchel has been with the Wolf Pack for the past three seasons and her primary duty has been working with the Nevada pitchers. She was part of the Wolf Pack coaching staff that was named Best in the West Region by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association. Two of her pupils last season, Katie Holverson and Jordan McPherson, both earned All-WAC honors with Holverson earning second-team All-West Region accolades.
“Being able to retain Melanie was huge for our program,” Matt Meuchel said. “She is very well respected for her teaching and recruiting ability in the softball community. She has had a large role in the success Nevada softball has had in the past three seasons, including last season's nationally ranked team.”
Nevada went 44-18 last season, winning its first-ever Western Athletic Conference regular season title and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Regional. The Pack advanced to the championship game at the Regionals, falling to host UCLA. Matt Meuchel, formerly the associate head coach at Nevada, was hired in June to replace Michelle Gardner, who accepted the coaching job at Indiana.
The Wolf Pack has two new players on this year’s team in pitcher Mallary Darby, a standout from Spanish Springs High School in Sparks, Nev., and Kortnee Wiley, a freshman second baseman/centerfielder from Freedom High School in Oakley, Calif.
