Coaches

Brittany Bennett

Having displayed positive increases for the UNCP softball program since her arrival in Pembroke in July of 2013 as UNCP’s 10th head softball coach, Brittany Bennett will enter her fourth year at the helm of the program for the 2016-17 season. She also serves as a lecturer in the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department.


Bennett set numerous records at the helm of the Braves in 2016, including the first Peach Belt Conference semifinal appearance in program history and the most league wins since 2008. UNCP capped off the first back-to-back winning seasons since 1991-92 and put four players on the all-conference sqaud for the first time in eight years. Black & Gold pitchers racked up 36 complete games, the most in UNCP history, while the defense as a whole only committed 59 errors, fewest in program history, leading to the best fielding percentage (.964) the Braves have ever compiled. With all the on-the-field accomplishments, Bennett kept the Braves focued in the classroom as well, putting four players on the PBC All-Academic Team for the first time in program history and the Braves were named a NFCA All-Academic team for just the second time ever.


In 2015, the Braves registered a 26-21 mark - their first winning season since the 2010 campaign - and garnered the 2015 Peach Belt Conference Team Sportsmanship Award for the second-straight season. The Braves put the finishing touches on an 18-10 campaign at the UNCP Softball Field in 2015 with a sweep of USC Aiken, while a road doubleheader sweep of Mount Olive helped the club end the season on a four-game winning streak. UNCP opened the season with an 8-2 record that marked the best start for the squad since the 2005 season, and also totaled seven series sweeps, five shutouts, five run-rule victories and five wins in extra innings.


Bennett mentored senior Brea Hartley to five accolades over the course of the 2015 season including Daktronics All-Region, NFCA All-Region, NCCSIA All-State, Preseason All-PBC and All-PBC accolades, while two other players landed on the PBC All-Academic Team. Three freshman in Bennett’s first recruiting class also earned conference and regional honors with Taylor Gerhart and Jamie Johnson becoming PBC Freshmen of the Week, Gerhart making the all-conference squad and Haleigh Epperson being named to the all-state team.


In her first year at UNCP, the Lady Braves boasted a five-game winning streak towards the end of the season, back-to-back defeats of then-No.2 Kutztown in February, four series sweeps, three shutouts, six run-rule victories and one win in extra innings against opponents. Bennett captured wins in her first contest of her head coaching career in both the regular season and conference portion of her schedule.


The squad captured its most PBC victories since the 2011 season and was awarded the 2014 PBC Team Sportsmanship Award. She had two players land on the preseason All-PBC team and All-PBC team, while one notched a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-District team and PBC All-Academic team.


"Brittany is a proven recruiter and winner at the Division I and II levels, including great regional familiarity from coaching stops at UNCW & Mount Olive," said UNCP director of athletics Dick Christy. "She is focused on a robust student-athlete experience and has shown through her track record that success academically and athletically can be achieved simultaneously."


Bennett notched a handful of successful stops as an assistant, including two prior to UNCP at fellow PBC institution, Georgia College. Bennett trekked to Pembroke from Milledgeville, Ga., where she was the top assistant on a coaching staff that led the Bobcats on a 20-1/2 game turnaround in just two seasons. A 15-35 club prior to her arrival in Milledgeville, the Bobcats turned in a 36-15 record in 2013 and logged a runner-up finish in the Peach Belt Conference regular season standings, while also securing an NCAA postseason bid. Along the way, she mentored three all-region standouts, as well as a first team all-American, and was key in helping GC finish among the nation's top 25 teams in the final national poll.


Bennett made the move to Milledgeville following a three-year stint as assistant coach at Lynn. While with the Knights, Bennett's pitching staff allowed the second-fewest hits in program history in 2009 and held opponents to their lowest batting average in four seasons. Bennett also mentored one all-American and a pair of all-region standouts.


Bennett spent one season as an assistant coach at UNC Wilmington and also served on the staff at Mount Olive for one season as well. Under her guidance, the Trojan pitching staff lowered its earned run average from 5.13 to 1.70 - 18th-best among all NCAA Division II institutions. She also helped the squad post a school-record 39 victories. In addition, sophomore Jenny Jackson was selected the Carolina-Virginia Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year after ranking seventh nationally in ERA (0.87).


She was a graduate assistant for two seasons (2005-06) at Southern Arkansas where she worked with both the hitters and pitchers. The Lady Muleriders produced the Gulf South Conference's Pitcher of the Year in 2006 after Kayla King notched 20 victories and a sub-2.60 ERA.


No stranger to the Division II game, Bennett was a two-year letterwinner at Southern Arkansas. A member of the Gulf South Conference Academic Honor Roll in 2004, she holds the school record for fewest errors in a career with six.


A Longview, Texas, native, Bennett earned her bachelor's degree in business administration from Southern Arkansas in 2004. She received her master's degree in kinesiology from SAU in 2006.