Ali Viola (born January 1, 1976) is an American, former collegiate All-American

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

player and coach. She played

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

for

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

from 1995 to 1998. She owns various records for the school and is one of ten

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

hitters to accumulate a career .400

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with 200

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

and 50

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

Nebraska Cornhuskers

For her freshman season, Viola was named to the then

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

First Team, as well as garnering both the “Rookie of The Year” and “Player of The Year” honors. In addition, she was named a Second Team All-American. Viola broke and set new school season records for RBIs,

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

s, home runs, and

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

, both the RBI and hits still stand. Her average and

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

s were and remain second best all-time at the university. She broke most of the same records for the Big 8 that season and they all remain in the top-10 for the

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

, while leading in average, RBIs, home runs and hits, earning a conference

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

that year. Viola also achieved a career and then school best 19 consecutive game hit streak from April 10–29. In the newly dubbed

, Viola was named to the 1996 Second Team and designated a First Team All-American. Viola broke her own home run and posted a new

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

record. She led the

in RBIs and home runs while her 85 hits were the conference’s second best total, now sitting inside the top-10 all-time for a season. All her other season stats were and are top-5 school records. In 1997 Viola lasted just 21 games before injury forced her to retire for the season. She responded the following year by being named all-conference, Big 12 Player of the Year and First Team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n. Viola broke the season home runs, walks and slugging percentage records (all career bests) for the Cornhuskers. Her average, RBIs and hits were and remain top-5 school season records. That year she led the conference in all the latter categories, except hits and walks, to win a second conference Triple Crown. March 19-April 10, Viola matched her career best 19 consecutive game hit streak. Prior the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

tournament, Viola would become just the second player to join the exclusive club of .400 average, 200 RBIs and 50 home runs at the tail end of

play and into the conference tournament that year. The Cornhuskers made the

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

and on May 21 vs. the

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

, Viola was perfect at the plate (3/3) with the only RBI in the loss. Although shutout in her next game with the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

, the team posted a victory to meet the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac- ...

on May 23. Viola hit a home run in her final collegiate at-bat to close out her career and seal her spot on the All-Tournament team going (4/8) with 2RBIs and a walk. Overall for her career, Viola claims the school career records for batting average, RBIs, doubles and slugging percentage; she is second in hits and home runs. For the

conference, she ranks top-10 in every offense category, minus her walks.

Personal life

Viola began her coaching career with the

Louisville Cardinals The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...

and then spent an equal three years with the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivisi ...

and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs. She was Head Coach for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

and in her tenure has earned a 2007 conference championship and 2009

tournament super regional appearance. Viola was also named one of the “25 Women of Distinction” for the Cornhuskers on January 28, 2000. Under a "Make The Team" logo, Viola began offering softball lessons and continues currently. She was also later inducted in the San Marin, California Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2018, Viola's jersey was retired by her alma mater.

Statistics

References

External links

*https://maketheteam.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Viola, Ali 1976 births Living people Nebraska Cornhuskers softball players Softball players from California People from Novato, California Sportspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area 21st-century American women

Nebraska Cornhuskers

Personal life

Statistics

See also

References

External links