Jennifer Herzig (updated 12/6/11)

Jennifer Herzig begins her seventh season as the head coach of the UNCG softball program in 2011-12.
“I am very excited for the opportunity to coach at UNC Greensboro and become a member of the Spartan Athletics family,” Herzig said when named to the post in July 2005. “First and foremost, my goal is to build a complete program that will know success on the field as well as in the classroom.”
Herzig is well on her way toward accomplishing both goals. In her tenure, the Spartans have reached the Southern Conference Championship title game for the first time in school history and have produced 11 All-Southern Conference selections and 19 Academic All-SoCon selections.
The Manassas, Va., native owns a 151-207 record after six years at the helm of the program. Under Herzig’s guidance, UNCG has upset the top-seeded team in the SoCon tournament in four of her six seasons – and the Spartans didn’t face the No. 1 seed in 2009.
The Spartans became the first No. 8 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in tournament action in consecutive seasons (2006-07), and Herzig is the only coach in UNCG history to win two games at the league tournament in multiple years. She has done it in each of the last five and is the Spartans’ winningest coach in the tournament by both wins (11) and percentage (.478).
Last season, Herzig and the Spartans shocked the softball world to start the season, no-hitting No. 23 Florida State 1-0 in nine innings at the Seminoles’ own tournament in their first contest of the season. Cory Mattson’s no-hitter was the first in school history over a ranked opponent and the first to go to extra innings. Mattson would go on to beat North Carolina later in the season, giving Mattson and UNCG the only two SoCon wins over ACC programs on the year.
As has become customary for the Spartans, UNCG won a pair of games at the SoCon tournament, knocking off third-seeded Georgia Southern, the tournament host, in the opening round. Alex Emeterio, Kaitlin Merkt and Eileen Horsmon earned All-Southern Conference honors for the second time each, with Emeterio taking first-team honors and Merkt and Horsmon earning spots on the second team. For the first time ever, UNCG put two on the SoCon All-Freshman Team, with Katelyn Bedwell and Aisha Figueroa earning spots.
After the season, Figueroa tried out for the Puerto Rico national team, earning a spot on the roster. She was Puerto Rico’s starting second baseman at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, and proved she belonged on the international stage by hitting .409 in seven games – the fourth-best mark at the tournament.
Merkt, a member of Herzig’s first recruiting class at UNCG, finished her career third in school history in home runs (32) and fifth in RBI (112).
The 2010 season was a banner year for Herzig and the Spartans. UNCG went 27-30 overall and posted a 12-11 record in SoCon play, good for the Spartans’ first winning league record since 2003. The Spartans finished tied for fourth in the league, their highest finish since a second-place showing in 2003. UNCG nabbed one of the highly coveted spots in the four-team SoCon tournament, knocking off top-seeded Chattanooga in the first round behind Horsmon’s grand slam and Amber Harrell’s dominant pitching performance. Harrell, who would go on to be named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, fell one out shy of her first career no-hitter.
Herzig would lead the Spartans to their first-ever title game the following day, as UNCG topped Georgia Southern in an elimination game in the morning before taking on Elon in the championship game. The Spartans were just three outs from forcing the “if-necessary” game, but saw the Phoenix rally for the win and the title.
Nevertheless, Harrell was named the MOP of the tournament and was joined on the all-tournament team by Horsmon, Emeterio and Whitney Sirois.
The individual accolades poured in for the Spartans all season. The biggest belonged to Emeterio, who earned first-team All-Mideast Region honors to become UNCG’s first all-region performer since 2003.
Emeterio and Merkt were preseason All-SoCon selections, while Emeterio took first-team All-SoCon honors in the postseason. Harrell and Horsmon earned second-team All-SoCon honors, while Horsmon also grabbed a spot on the All-Freshman Team. During the season, Emeterio and Merkt were named the SoCon Player of the Week once each, while Harrell was a three-time Pitcher of the Week. Mattson also grabbed a Pitcher of the Week award. Seniors Laura Olenderksi and Emily Akiyama also earned SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week laurels – honoring academic as well as athletic prowess – during the season.
Several players made their marks on the record book during the season, as well. Harrell struck out 214 batters, the second-most in school history in a single season, and became UNCG’s all-time strikeout leader. In addition to becoming the first player in school history to surpass the 600-strikeout threshold, Harrell destroyed the old career record, finishing with 657 strikeouts – 92 more than the previous mark.
Emeterio turned in the sixth-best batting average in school history, flirting with .400 before finishing the season with a .382 mark. Merkt had 11 home runs, tied for the fourth-most in school history. The team as a whole hit 39, the fourth-most in UNCG lore, while the pitching staff fell one strikeout shy of the school record with 369 – in nine fewer games than when the record was set in 2007.
Herzig has always placed an emphasis on excellence in the classroom as well as on the field, and the 2010 season was no exception. Sirois earned Academic All-Southern Conference honors for the third straight season, while Akiyama and Olenderski earned the distinction for the second straight year. Five student-athletes were named NFCA Scholar-Athletes, the second-most in a single year in school history, with Akiyama and Olenderski taking the honor for the fourth straight year. UNCG also earned NFCA All-Academic Team accolades.
In 2009, Herzig’s squad posted a 26-33 record, bouncing back from an opening-round loss at the SoCon tournament to win two straight. Merkt earned a spot on the All-Southern Conference Second Team, while Emeterio took a spot on the inaugural All-Freshman Team. Senior Hannah Angel was a preseason all-conference pick, Harrell was a two-time SoCon Pitcher of the Week during the season and outfielder Brittany Ausley earned SoCon Player of the Week honors.
A school-record six Spartans earned Academic All-Southern Conference distinction in 2009, doubling UNCG’s previous best effort, while Akiyama, Olenderski, Kayla Hensley and Mary Catherine Vercoe were NFCA Scholar-Athletes. The team posted a 3.190 grade point average for the year, earning NFCA All-Academic Team accolades.
Olenderski also picked up a prestigious league honor, as she was UNCG’s female recipient of the Southern Conference’s Coleman Lew Leadership Award for the 2008-09 school year The award recognizes student-athletes from each of the SoCon’s 12 member institutions. Coaches, faculty athletic representatives and senior woman administrators nominate prospective candidates based on leadership, academic excellence and athletic achievement in both the college environment and the community. Athletic directors and representatives from Coleman Lew & Associates conducted one-on-one interviews with the finalists before determining the award winners.
The 2008 season saw Herzig’s UNCG squad post a fifth-place finish in the SoCon, the Spartans’ best showing since 2005. UNCG won its first two games at the league tournament, beating fourth-seeded Elon before knocking off top seed Chattanooga to advance to the winners’ bracket for the first time since joining the league for the 1998 season.
Herzig’s players took home several honors before, during and after the season, with senior Mary Greenway taking All-Southern Conference First Team honors for the second season in a row. Greenway, Leslie Furness and Ausley all earned spots on the Preseason All-Southern Conference First Team, while pitchers Angel and Harrell took home SoCon awards during the season, with Angel earning a Pitcher of the Week nod on May 5 and Harrell nabbing Pitcher of the Month honors for February. Angel was named to the SoCon All-Tournament Team after UNCG’s run.
The Spartans also excelled in the classroom during the 2008 season, with a school-record six players earning NFCA Scholar-Athlete status and the team earning All-Academic Team standing for the school year. Three players – Greenway, Sirois and Lyndsay Mouse – were named Academic All-Southern Conference.
One of the highlights of Herzig’s tenure came when the Spartans hosted an exhibition against Team USA during USA Softball’s “Bound 4 Beijing” tour in April 2008. Played in the UNCG Softball Stadium, which underwent a $3.5 million reconstruction and re-opened prior to the 2006 season, the Spartans faced Jennie Finch and Team USA prior to their Olympic silver-medal run.
During the 2007 season, the Spartans advanced to the championship game of the Winthrop/adidas Invitational and Harrell was named to the all-tournament team for her efforts throughout the weekend. Greenway earned All-Southern Conference First Team honors while senior shortstop Adriane Audley earned second-team honors. The selection of two players marked the first time since the 2000 season that UNCG had placed more than one player on the all-conference team.
The Spartans also hosted the Southern Conference tournament in 2007, downing the top-seeded Lady Mocs in the first round and winning two games at the tournament for just the second time in school history and first time since 2000.
In her brief tenure in Greensboro, Herzig has coached some of the most accomplished players in school history. Greenway, a junior college transfer that played just two seasons at UNCG, graduated second on the Spartans’ career steals list, setting the single-season record in 2008. Angel, Harrell and Vanessa Oakes – who went on to spend two seasons as UNCG’s pitching coach after playing two seasons for Herzig – all appear in UNCG’s top 10 in career wins, strikeouts and shutouts, while the 2009 squad had three of the top 10 home run hitters in school history on the roster in Ausley, Merkt and Furness.
Herzig was a member of the NCAA Division I Softball Committee from July 2008 to September 2009 and is in her third year as the SoCon representative for the South Region on the NCAA Softball Regional Advisory Committee. She is in her second as the SoCon’s representative for the NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll.
A 2001 graduate of Charlotte, Herzig served as an assistant coach during the 2004 and 2005 seasons at her alma mater under head coach Aimee DeVos. With the 49ers, Herzig assisted in all aspects of recruiting and other daily operations of the program, with an emphasis on working with the Charlotte hitters, infielders and catchers.
During her playing career, Herzig was honored for her work in the classroom repeatedly, earning two Conference USA Academic Medals (2000-2001) and NFCA Scholar-Athlete honors in each of her four years (1998-2001). She was a four-year letterwinner as a catcher for the 49ers.
Herzig graduated cum laude from Charlotte with a Bachelor of Arts degree in criminal justice and a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology. She earned her master’s degree in physical education and sport management from East Tennessee State in 2003, where she spent two seasons as an assistant coach. She served as the program’s interim head coach during the fall of 2002.
In addition to her work as a player and coach, Herzig has served as a counselor at numerous softball camps at universities up and down the East Coast, including Florida State, Ohio State, Georgia, North Carolina and Furman.