Eyeing No. 900: Hollifield three wins shy of career mark as C-N heads to Mid-South on Friday
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Carson-Newman softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield has compiled a long list of accomplishments in her 26 seasons at the helm of the Lady Eagle program.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — Carson-Newman softball coach Vickee Kazee-Hollifield has compiled a long list of accomplishments in her 26 seasons at the helm of the Lady Eagle program.
With four games in this weekend's Mid-South Classic in Spartanburg, S.C., Hollifield has a chance to add to that list as she is three wins shy of 900 for her career. Her 897 career has her seventh in all-time winning percentage (.791) among Division II coaches, and, with three more wins, she would become only the eighth coach in D-II history to reach the 900 plateau.
However, Hollifield, who currently has a career record of 897-277-1, knows nothing will come easy with the difficult schedule her squad will face the rest of the way.
"At this point if my team was 16-0, I might have time to reflect upon it, but right now that's just something someone might mention at the beginning of the season to you," said Hollifield, who won her 800th career game on March 30, 2008. "I am thankful that the good Lord has allowed me the opportunity to coach for 26 years at Carson-Newman. A lot goes into coaching but right now is the fun part, practicing and playing games. This year's team is working so hard to improve daily, I look forward to the schedule ahead."
The Lady Eagles will play four quality opponents at the Mid-South Classic in Belmont Abbey, Armstrong Atlantic, Glenville State and Francis Marion. C-N will square off with Belmont Abbey and Armstrong Atlantic on Friday at 4 and 8 p.m., respectively, and will close out the tournament on Saturday against Glenville State (9 a.m.) and Francis Marion (11 a.m.).
Armstrong Atlantic and Francis Marion were picked to finish second and third, respectively, in the Peach Belt Conference this season. Francis Marion was runner-up in last season's Peach Belt Tournament.
"Our players know how tough it's going to be this weekend, especially all of our sophomores, juniors and seniors," Hollifield said. "They know about the teams. This year's schedule was a tough one, and we knew that going into it. They are really looking forward to the challenge that is there. Our conference is so competitive with so many good teams. We just look at it as a building block to get us ready for conference play."
After a slow start to the season, Hollifield has seen her team turn things around to win five out of its last six games, including four straight, as it enters the Mid-South Classic at 11-6-1 overall. After this weekend, the Lady Eagles will open South Atlantic Conference play on March 8 at Mars Hill.
"We've seen some consistency. I have reminded them we want to get better from this point on," Hollifield stated. "I don't want us to look at our first game of the season and how we were playing. We were not playing very well. I want to build upon where we are right now. I think if we take that mental approach and our work ethic into the next leg of games that will make us a lot stronger."
-C-N-
