Softball Coaching Staff
Head Coach
Stacy Pondo
Stacy
Pondo is set to start her fifth season as the head coach of the
Behrend Lions softball program.
The 2007 campaign was an excellent season that featured a 29-16
overall record that tied for the second most wins in school
history. Behrend advanced all the way to the AMCC championship game
for the second straight season, but fell 9-7 to La Roche in the
finals. The blue and white then went on to post a 2-2 mark in the
ECAC Tournament. Three players were named to the AMCC All-Conference
First-Team.
In 2006 Pondo led the Behrend Lions to an AMCC Championship with a 34-10 record, and the softball program’s first ever NCAA Tournament appearance. The blue and white went 16-2 in conference competition and had five players named to the all-conference team. Pondo was also honored as AMCC Coach of the Year.
In 2005, Pondo’s second season in
charge of the Behrend Lions, she guided the squad into the AMCC semifinals
on her way to being named AMCC Co-Coach of the Year.
Pondo played two seasons at Mercyhurst North East Junior College and starred
as a pitcher and shortstop. She carries a .419 career average and in 1997-98
served as an assistant to the 15-5 team because of an injury. She bounced
back to play first base for the Mercyhurst Lakers a year later and earned
the Mercyhurst Athletic Award.
Pondo earned a dual major in sports management and marketing from Mercyhurst
in 1999. In addition to her coaching duties, Pondo is also the assistant to
the director of athletics.
E-mail Head Coach Stacy Pondo:
slp15@psu.edu
Assistant Coach
Joe Dolak
Joe Dolak
begins his fifth season as an assistant coach with the Behrend Lions softball program.
In 2004, Dolak served Mercyhurst Prep High School as the head
junior varsity coach and assisted the varsity squad that won the 2003
District 10 championship. Previously, he guided Villa Maria for four
seasons as the varsity assistant and aided the team to the postseason
for three seasons, and then led the junior varsity program as head
coach from 1998-2002.
Dolak was a standout baseball pitcher for Gannon University and earned most valuable freshman honors in his first season with the Knights.
Assistant Coach Karla Murray
Karla Murray starts her second season as a coach for the blue and white.
Murray was an outstanding short stop and catcher at North East High School. She was also the team captain and earned Erie County League All-Conference honors.
In college, Murray was a three-year
starter for the volleyball squad and a two-year team captain. She was an
academic all-conference selection and also named to the All-AMCC team as a
junior. Her 1,315 digs rank sixth all-time at Behrend. Murray helped lead
the squad to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2005 and its first
ever postseason victories in 2006 at the ECAC Tournament.
Murray, the winner of the Herb Lauffer Leadership/Scholarship athletic
department award the past two years, graduated in 2006 with a degree in
marketing. She is now working toward her MBA at Behrend.
Assistant Coach Tom Jakubowski
Tom Jakubowski enters his first season on the Behrend Lions staff as the pitching coach.
For the past eight years Jakubowski led McDowell High School as the athletics director after serving the previous eight as the assistant. In 2006, he was recognized as the Pennsylvania Region III Athletic Director of the Year.
Jakubowski also coached softball, baseball, football, volleyball, and bowling for the Trojans. He boasts an impressive overall coaching mark of 538-207-2. In his 11 seasons as the head softball coach, Jakubowski led McDowell to six league titles and a District 10 Championship. His coaching mark stands at 156-57.
Jakubowski still serves as the director for the District 10 softball tournament. He is a graduate of Edinboro University.