(Story courtesy of the University of Dallas Sports Information Department)
IRVING, Texas – Christian Novak has been named the next University of Dallas softball head coach. She is the eighth coach to lead the program and will begin on September 21.
Novak arrives at Dallas after serving as a pitching coach at Cottey College since 2018. Novak's coaching duties with Cottey included: pitching, catching, outfield, and slap hitting. In her first season she helped the Comets to a 22-2 record as a first-year NAIA program followed by a 12-4 record last spring. Additionally, the 2019 pitching staff was strong with a 1.45 ERA which ranked fifth in the country. Novak worked with Comets' standout Kirsten Wallace, who ranked second nationally that season with a 0.56 ERA. In 2020, Novak guided the Comets to a fifth place conference ranking in team ERA and helped Lacey Cruz earn the program's first All-Conference pitching selection.
Novak graduated from the University of Memphis with a master's degree in strategic leadership and spent five years as a starting pitcher for the Tigers. She racked up 313 1/3 innings with 230 strikeouts for the Tigers and was recognized as the American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week in 2016 and named to the American Athletic Conference Honor Roll in 2017. She was also an Academic All-American over five seasons, 2014-2018, and named to the Academic All-Conference Team in that same span.
From 2013-16 Novak studied Apparel & Accessory Merchandising & home Furnishings. She excelled in the classroom, being named to the Dean's list in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
Prior to joining the Memphis pitching staff, Novak was a standout student-athlete for the Nevada Tigers who earned the 2010 Missouri State Softball Championship. She was named to the All-District Team all four years, the All-Region Team three years, and the All-State Team three times as well.