University of Nevada Athletics

As successful as the 2008 season was for the Nevada softball team - and it was the most storied season in school history - the future has never been brighter for the program. Thirteen letterwinners return from a team that went 44-18, won the Western Athletic Conference title and reached the championship game of an NCAA Regional. That group of returning players includes eight starters - seven of whom earned All-WAC honors in 2008. Throw in a trio of talented newcomers and a young energetic coach who has a deep familiarity with the program and there are the makings of another historic season of Nevada softball.

"This season's team is not all that different from last season's team," first-year head coach Matt Meuchel said. "We continue to be one of the nation's best offenses. In our minds, we have two of the top pitchers in the conference and we have made strides in the offseason to improve our defense. We are still very balanced and increasingly determined to exert ourselves as one of the elite programs in the country."

The Wolf Pack enters the season ranked No. 23 in the nation in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Preseason Poll. The 2009 ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 Poll will be released next week, but the Wolf Pack was ranked 20th in the final 2008 edition of that poll. Nevada was picked to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference preseason poll and had three players - Noelle Micka, Brittany Puzey and Kym Silagyi - on the preseason All-WAC team.

Nevada returns seven players who earned All-WAC honors in 2008, including first-team selections Kelsey Starr, Danielle Patrick, Puzey and Micka. Second-team honorees who return are Katie Holverson, Britton Murdock and Silagyi. Additionally, Micka was a second-team NFCA All-American in 2008 while also earning first-team All-West Region honors. Holverson was a second-team All-Region selection in 2008.

The rankings and accolades are nice feathers in the cap, but the Wolf Pack knows that after the 2008 season, this team will be looked at more so as the hunted rather than the hunter. It might be a role reversal for the Nevada program, but one that is a welcomed change as the Pack continues to establish itself on the national scene.

"I know how far this program has come and the sky is the limit for how far this program can go," said Meuchel, who helped build the Nevada program as an assistant from 2003-2006 before returning this year as the fourth head coach in school history. "And we have emphasized a couple of things to help us continue to grow. We realize that in order to continue to take a step forward toward being an elite program we have to improve our defense, both individually and as a team. Additionally, we have put a lot of emphasis on improving our overall level of conditioning to position ourselves to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament."

Meuchel knows that with a large group of returning starters and the potential of the newcomers, there is no need for this program to reinvent itself. There are clear-cut strengths of the program that the Wolf Pack will rely on to have another successful season.

"The strength of this team continues to be our offense and our ability to produce runs," Meuchel said. "Although we do not possess a tremendous amount of team speed we more than make up for that with our ability to hit for a high average and drive runners in. Additionally, we have a talented group on the mound and have continued to be more consistent on defense."

While the Pack will tackle a treacherous non-conference schedule to start the season, the WAC slate will not be much of a reprieve. Last season, the WAC placed four teams in the NCAA Tournament with Louisiana Tech receiving the automatic bid by winning the conference tournament and Fresno State and Hawai`i joining the Pack as at-large selections.

"Even though last season was a breakout season for the WAC this season could be even better," Meuchel said. "On paper, nearly every team in the WAC is stronger than last year and many of the conference's premier players are underclassmen. The future of the conference has never been brighter. It should be a very tight conference race this season and each conference series will likely be a dog fight."

PITCHING

In Katie Holverson, Nevada returns one of the most dominant hurlers on the West Coast. The junior right-hander had a breakout season in 2008 with a 22-6 record, a 2.26 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 207.1 innings. She was at her best in conference play as she went 8-0 with a 1.77 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 71.1 innings.

"Katie is poised to be one of the premier pitchers in the country and has worked extremely hard to take her game to an elite level," Meuchel said. "She has really asserted herself as one of our leaders and her game has elevated with that leadership role."

Holverson was a second-team All-WAC and All-West Region selection last year and started 30 of Nevada's 62 games. She also came into her own as a clutch relief pitcher as she set a program record with six saves during the season.

The other pitcher who figures to get a bulk of starts for the Wolf Pack this year is freshman Mallary Darby, a highly decorated local product from Spanish Springs High School in Sparks, Nev. Darby is a two-time Nevada State Player of the Year who holds four Nevada state career records: wins (85), complete game shutouts (76), no-hitters (14), strikeouts (996). She also holds the state record for strikeouts in a season (257) and strikeouts in a game (19).

"Mallary has all of the tools to be one of the conference's top pitchers, even in her freshman season," Meuchel said. "She has worked extremely hard to elevate her game and we expect her to have a great season. She will get a significant amount of starts and will provide a different look from the other pitchers on our staff."

Nevada has two other newcomers to the circle this year in junior Jessica Haight and senior Brittany Puzey. Haight was part of a state championship program at Reno's McQueen High before playing one season at Feather River College in Quincy, Calif. Puzey is a two-time All-WAC outfielder who will also contribute on the mound during her final season in the Silver and Blue.

"Jessica is a tireless worker and she is going to provide so much needed depth to our pitching staff," Meuchel said. "Brittany was an accomplished prep pitcher and, as competitive as she is, we expect her to do well on the mound this season even with her absence from pitching.

CATCHING

Sophomore Noelle Micka arrived on the collegiate scene with a bang in 2008. She earned second-team All-American honors after batting .399 with 43 runs, seven homers and 41 RBI for the Pack during her freshman season. Her offensive explosion was certainly worthy of the accolades, but it might have overshadowed how good she was behind the plate.

"As great as she is on offense she gets little credit for how skilled she is behind the plate and we expect her to have a breakout defensive season," Meuchel said.

Micka, who also played some in the outfield last year, committed just two errors during the 2008 season and recorded a fielding percentage of .994. She was charged with just three passed balls but threw out seven would-be base-stealers.

But it is not as though Nevada doesn't have reliable options at catcher behind Micka. Senior Katie Stith is a talented veteran who has started 130 games in her career with the Wolf Pack.

"Katie continues to be one of our hardest workers," Meuchel said. "A very talented defensive catcher, she has made large strides on offense this fall. She will play a large role this season and we expect her to have her best season yet at Nevada."

Sophomore Britton Murdock, who played mostly as the designated player last season, is another option behind the plate.

INFIELD

Nevada entered the 2008 season with a number of options in the infield but very quickly settled into a defensive lineup that would be a mainstay throughout the season. The defensive alignment of Kelsey Starr at first, Kym Silagyi at second, Sam Bias at third and Danielle Patrick at shortstop combined to make 243 out of a possible 248 starts at their respective positions in 2008. Each returns this season.

"We don't anticipate making many changes to our infield in terms of personnel, but we do have good options available if we

need," Meuchel said. "Only one of our returning starters in the infield is a senior, so our focus has been working with that group to get better defensively and work on their cohesiveness."

Starr moved from third base as a freshman to first base last season and returns for her junior year as an All-WAC player. She batted .299 with six home runs and 38 RBI, which was tied for second on the team in 2008.

Silagyi, the lone senior in the group, was a second-team All-WAC pick last year and is a preseason All-WAC selection in 2009. She set the school record for career stolen bases and is one of Nevada's top threats on the base paths again this season. She stole 13 bases last year and has 32 in her career to go along with a .298 batting average during her three seasons at Nevada.

Bias successfully made the transition from shortstop to third base last season and put up another solid year, offensively and defensively. She was second on the team in doubles and tied for third in home runs while batting .320 and enters her junior season as the Nevada career leader in slugging percentage at .514

Patrick emerged early in 2008 as the team's starting shortstop and never relinquished the role. Offensively, she surged with a .309 average en route to first-team All-WAC honors as a freshman. Meuchel credited Patrick's offseason dedication in a