Graves announces Tucker-Vance as new pitching coach
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head softball coach Michael Graves has announced the hiring of former Samford pitcher Holly Tucker-Vance to be the program’s new pitching coach.
VIDEO: Holly Tucker-Vance Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head softball coach Michael Graves has announced the hiring of former Samford pitcher Holly Tucker-Vance to be the program's new pitching coach.
"I am extremely thrilled that we could make it work to get Holly on board," Graves said. "We had talked several times about the position and when she called saying she wanted to do it, I was thrilled. It is hard to find someone that brings in the pitching knowledge that she has. I think she immediately elevates us into a pitcher's desired destination. Our pitchers and catchers will love her here."
Holly Tucker-Vance is a Chattanooga native who played for Frost Falcons and graduated from Soddy-Daisy High School. She was an all-conference and four-year starting pitcher (1991-1995) for Division I Samford University in Birmingham, Ala.
In 1999 she opened Alabama Academy of Fastpitch where she and her staff trained students from Alabama and surrounding areas. She was the coach of the 2002-2003 State and Regional Champions 18U Birmingham Vipers and Coach of Bessemer Academy High School Softball.
After her families move to Knoxville in 2007, she continued to train in fastpitch. She has been instructing girls in fastpitch for 20 plus years.
Tucker-Vance's 230.2 innings pitched in 1992 still holds up as the second-most in a single season in Samford softball history. She still holds Samford's single-season record for complete-games thrown with 36 in her freshman season. She also still holds the program's single-season shutout record with seven.
For a career, Tucker-Vance is sixth all-time in Bulldog history with 38 victories. Her 296 strikeouts are still seventh all-time.
She is married to former Samford University baseball star Dean Vance. The couple has three adult children, Anna-Katherine, Lange Lilli and Tucker. Tucker plays tennis at the University of the Cumberlands.
