Nicole Degenhardt
Head Coach | 9th Season | 220-157
Nicole Degenhardt, enters her ninth season at the helm of Georgian Court Softball in 2024.
In 2021, Georgian Court University, for the second time in program history (2009), came within one win of its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Softball Championship Elite Eight as the #22 nationally-ranked Lions fell to Saint Anselm College in the NCAA East Regional finals.
In eight seasons in the Lions dugout, Degenhardt has led GCU to three CACC regular season championships, two CACC Tournament Championships and four appearances in the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament.
The now three-time CACC Coach of the Year compiled a roster consisting of eight All-CACC players in 2021 while adding four NFCA All-Region players, seven D2SIDA All-Region selections, and an NFCA First-Team All-American in Alyssa Herrera.
Georgian Court, with a 38-6 overall record, collected the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular-season crown and its first CACC Championship Tournament title since 2009.
For just the second time in program history, Georgian Court made it three consecutive years advancing to the NCAA Tournament. With 39 wins in 2023, the Lions wont 38 or more games three straight years for the first time ever. Kaitlyn Stufft earned D2CCA All-American honors while Stufft, Adriana Mungo and Jayda Jones made the All-Region Team.
Since the start of her tenure, Degenhardt has been named Coach of the Year three times. She's coached two CACC Players of the Year in Samantha Reilly (2018) and Kaitlyn Stufft (2022), two CACC Pitchers of the Year in Samantha Fohrman (2021) and Mikayla Gilgert (2022) and the 2018 Rookie of the Year in Caitlin Hughes. She's been in the dugout for 29 all-CACC performances overall with 17 making the First Team and 12 on the Second Team. She's also coaches five All-American student-athletes and 29 have made the All-Region team.
Degenhardt, a former three-sport athlete at Felician, earned All-CACC honors in softball and volleyball before graduating in 2011 with a degree in Mathematics Education/Special Education. She earned induction into the school's Athletic Hall-of-Fame in 2017.
Upon graduation, the Secaucus, New Jersey native taught high school and middle school mathematics in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey before accepting the position of Associate Athletic Director/Recruiting Coordinator at NCAA Division III College of Saint Elizabeth.
Degenhardt led the College of Saint Elizabeth softball team from 2012-15. The former North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Coach of the Year also served as the floor general of the Saint Elizabeth women's basketball team (2011-15).
| Nicole Degenhardt Year-by-Year |
| Year |
School |
Overall |
Conference |
| 2013 |
Saint Elizabeth |
13-17 |
5-15 |
| 2014 |
Saint Elizabeth |
7-20 |
3-16 |
| 2015 |
Saint Elizabeth |
13-23 |
7-13 |
|
Saint Elizabeth Totals |
33-60 |
15-44 |
| 2016 |
Georgian Court |
7-39 |
6-20 |
| 2017 |
Georgian Court |
14-30 |
11-15 |
| 2018 |
Georgian Court |
30-23 |
18-8 |
| 2019 |
Georgian Court |
46-11# |
23-3! |
| 2020 |
Georgian Court |
6-12^ |
0-0 |
| 2021 |
Georgian Court |
38-6# |
25-1!* |
| 2022 |
Georgian Court |
40-15# |
21-3!* |
| 2023 |
Georgian Court |
39-21# |
18-6 |
|
Georgian Court Totals |
220-157 |
122-56 |
|
Career Totals |
253-217 |
137-100 |
| ! CACC Regular Season Championship |
| * CACC Tournament Championship |
| # NCAA East Region Appearance |
| ^ Shortened season due to COVID-19 |
