Holly Jean Bruder (born 1977) is an American college softball coach. She most recently served as head coach at Lamar from 2013 to 2018. From 2008 to 2011, she served as head coach at NCAA Division I Morehead State. Prior to the seasons at Morehead State, she served as head coach at NCAA Division III Denison University for six years (2002–2007). Before her head coaching assignments, Bruder was assistant coach at Bluffton College in 2001 after beginning her college coaching career as an assistant coach at Albion College (1999–2000).

Holly Bruder
Biographical details
Born1977 (age 46–47)
Rogers City, Michigan
Playing career
1996–1999Alma
Position(s)Third base
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2000Albion (asst.)
2001Bluffton (asst.)
2002–2007Denison
2008–2011Morehead State
2013–2018Lamar
Head coaching record
Overall427–375 (.532)
Tournaments2–4 (NCAA D-III)
3–2 (NISC)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
  • NCAC regular season (2002, 2003, 2006, 2007)
  • 2× NCAC Tournament (2002, 2006)

Playing career

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Bruder played softball for Rogers City High School in Rogers City, Michigan. She played softball and soccer at Alma College, specifically at third base in softball.[1] In 1999, her team advanced to the NCAA Division III College World Series finishing in third place.[2]

Coaching career

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Assistant coach

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Bruder served as Assistant Coach for 1 year (2000) on the Albion College staff serving as assistant softball coach.[3] In 2001, she moved to Bluffton College where she served as Head Coach for the tennis team and Assistant Coach for the softball team.[3]

Denison

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Bruder served as Head Coach for the Denison University Big Red softball team from 2002 to 2007. She compiled a record of 145–105 at Denison leading the Big Red to four conference regular season titles and two appearances in the NCAA Division III tournament.

Morehead State

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In 2008, Bruder took over head coaching duties for the Morehead State Eagles softball team.[3] Her first Eagles team finished in 2nd place in the Ohio Valley Conference,[4] the Eagles's highest finish in the history of the program. Her first two teams at Morehead State set school overall winning records of 34 in 2008 and 35 in 2009. Bruder's overall record at Morehead State from 2008 to 2011 was 115–96.[4]

Lamar

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On April 22, 2011, Athletic Director Larry Tidwell announced plans to reinstate college softball as an NCAA Division I sport at Lamar University.[5] On August 1, 2011, former Morehead State head coach Holly Bruder was announced as the finalist to fill the head coaching position at Lamar after over 20 years without a program.[6] The Lady Cardinals finished fifth in the Southland Conference in their first season of competition (2012–13) following the restart of the program. The team also earned a berth in the Southland Conference softball tournament.[7]

On May 11, 2018, Lamar fired Bruder after a player's complaint that a member of the coaching staff forced her to eat meat during Lent, a claim disputed by multiple other players.[8][9] Lamar placed Bruder on administrative leave around two weeks earlier.[10] In an email to the player, Lamar athletic director Marco Born stated that Lamar "could and should have done a better job of respecting [her] expression of [her] faith."[8] The following week, Bruder filed a formal appeal with Lamar.[9][11]

Head coaching record

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Combined source:[12]

Source for Denison:[13]

Source for Morehead State:[14]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Denison Big Red (North Coast Athletic Conference) (2002–2007)
2002 Denison 27–14 12–3 1st NCAA D-III Regional
2003 Denison 24–18 12–2 1st
2004 Denison 10–26 4–10 7th
2005 Denison 21–19 8–8 4th
2006 Denison 33–13 11–3 1st NCAA D-III Regional
2007 Denison 30–15 13–1 1st
Denison: 145–105 (.580) 60–27 (.690)
Morehead State Eagles (Ohio Valley Conference) (2008–2011)
2008 Morehead State 34–16 16–9 2nd
2009 Morehead State 35–20 15–8 3rd
2010 Morehead State 27–24 14–9 3rd
2011 Morehead State 19–36 10–19 9th
Morehead State: (115–96 (.545) 55–45 (.550)
Lamar Lady Cardinals (Southland Conference) (2013–2018)
2013 Lamar 24–35 14–13 5th[15]
2014 Lamar 20–30 12–14 8th[15]
2015 Lamar 26–28 14–10 5th[16]
2016 Lamar 35–22 18–9 4th[17]
2017 Lamar 34–31 17–10 4th[18] NISC Runner-Up
2018 Lamar 28–28 11–16 9th[19]
Lamar: 167–174 (.490) 86–72 (.544)
Total: 427–375 (.532)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Personal life

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Born in Rogers City, Michigan,[20] Bruder is formerly married to Allison Honkofsky, who played under Bruder at Morehead State in 2008 and later became an assistant coach on Bruder's staffs at Morehead State and Lamar.[21][9]

References

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  1. ^ "Alma College Softball Roster". Archived from the original on November 15, 1997. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  2. ^ "Holly Bruder - Head Coach - Softball Coaches". Lamar University Athletics. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Holly Bruder - Softball Coach". Morehead State University Athletics. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Holly Bruder - Head Coach". Lamar Cardinals. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  5. ^ Christopher Dade (August 22, 2011). "Lamar softball program to start in 2013". Beaumont Enterprise. Hearst Newspapers II, LLC. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  6. ^ "Bruder tabbed as new head coach". NCAA.com.
  7. ^ David Berry (May 15, 2013). "Bruder gives her thoughts on the Lamar softball season". Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  8. ^ a b Teitz, Liz; Shapiro, Danny (May 11, 2018). "Lamar University softball coach Holly Bruder fired". Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  9. ^ a b c Teitz, Liz (May 17, 2018). "Fired Lamar softball coaches appeal to university". Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  10. ^ Shapiro, Danny (April 27, 2018). "Lamar softball coach placed on administrative leave". Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  11. ^ Shapiro, Danny (May 6, 2018). "Softball player: Lamar violated her faith". Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  12. ^ "NCAA Statistics - Holly Bruder - Coaches Summary". NCAA.org. Retrieved February 6, 2024.
  13. ^ "Denison Softball 2014 Media Guide" (PDF). Denison University. p. 2. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  14. ^ "Softball Records Book" (PDF). Ohio Valley Conference. p. 81. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  15. ^ a b "Southland Conference 2015 Softball" (PDF). Southland Conference. pp. 16–17. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  16. ^ "2015 Softball Standings".
  17. ^ "2016 Softball Standings".
  18. ^ "2017 Softball Standings".
  19. ^ "2018 Softball Standings".
  20. ^ "Holly Bruder, Head Softball Coach". Denison University. Archived from the original on February 3, 2007. Retrieved May 21, 2018.
  21. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 22, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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