Head Coach Rhonda Revelle, Associate Head Coach Lori Sippel, Assistant Coach Diane Miller and Softball Director of Operations Katie Brown were collectively honored on Wednesday, when the National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced Nebraska as the 2013 Midwest Region Coaching Staff of the Year.
Nebraska was honored as the coaching staff of the year for the third time in Revelle’s tenure. Her staff also won the award in 1998 and 2002. The Husker coaching staff has been honored each of the last three years Nebraska has advanced to the Women’s College World Series.
A trip to the 2013 Women’s College World Series was the highlight for this year’s team, which finished No. 8 in the final rankings after being unranked and not receiving any votes in the preseason polls. With a roster featuring seven freshmen among its 16 players and a pitching staff featuring only one hurler with college experience, the Husker coaching staff led Nebraska to a 45-16 record this spring, tying for the fifth-most victories in school history.
The Huskers hosted an NCAA Regional for the first time in six seasons in 2013, earned a No. 1 seed in an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2002, advanced to the first NCAA Super Regional in school history and qualified for the Women’s College World Series for the first time since 2002. Along the way, Nebraska was one of only four teams to defeat national champion Oklahoma this spring, while the Huskers finished with five victories over top-10 opponents.
Individually, junior Tatum Edwards was a second-team All-America selection, becoming the first Husker to earn first- or second-team All-America accolades since 2004. Revelle also eclipsed 800 career victories during the 2013 season, while becoming Nebraska’s all-time wins leader across all sports. Sippel coached pitchers Edwards and freshman Emily Lockman to first-team all-region recognition, increasing her region-leading total to 19 selections in 19 seasons. Miller had five hitters earn all-conference recognition, giving her 17 all-conference hitters in her first five seasons at Nebraska.
“This is a humbling honor for our coaching staff, but none of it would have been possible without the tremendous work our players put in all year long,” Revelle said. “The players and coaches shared a vision for what this team could accomplish this season, and we stayed together and committed to that vision. We had a great year and it was truly a team effort from the coaching staff, to the players, to the support staff and everyone involved with Nebraska softball.”
