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 Morehead State University (MSU) is a public university in Morehead, Kentucky. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-year residential ea ...

. Prior to the seasons at Morehead State, she served as head coach at

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their stu ...

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

for six years (2002–2007). Before her head coaching assignments, Bruder was assistant coach at

Bluffton College Bluffton University is a private Mennonite university in Bluffton, Ohio. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, with four programs that have earned programmatic accreditation: dietetics, education, music, and social work. The unive ...

in 2001 after beginning her college coaching career as an assistant coach at

Albion College Albion College is a private liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students in 2014. They participate in NCAA Division III and the Michigan Intercolle ...

(1999–2000).

Playing career

Bruder played softball for Rogers City High School in

Rogers City, Michigan Rogers City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,827 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Presque Isle County. The city is adjacent to Rogers Township, but is politically independent. Rogers City is located on La ...

. She played softball and soccer at

Alma College Alma College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan. It enrolls approximately 1,400 students and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Alma College is affiliat ...

, specifically at third base in softball. In 1999, her team advanced to the NCAA Division III College World Series finishing in third place.

Coaching career

Assistant coach

Bruder served as Assistant Coach for 1 year (2000) on the

staff serving as assistant softball coach. In 2001, she moved to

where she served as Head Coach for the tennis team and Assistant Coach for the softball team.

Denison

Bruder served as Head Coach for the

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

In 2008, Bruder took over head coaching duties for the

Morehead State Eagles The Morehead State Eagles are the athletic teams that represent Morehead State University (MSU), located in Morehead, Kentucky, United States, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks (for football, the Football Champio ...

softball team. Her first Eagles team finished in 2nd place in the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

, 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.

Lamar

On April 22, 2011, Athletic Director

Larry Tidwell Larry Dan Tidwell (born May 14, 1953), is the Head Coach for the Dallas Christian College Woman’s Basketball Team. Before moving to Kansas, he served as women's basketball head coach from 2013–2018 at the Texas–Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros ...

announced plans to reinstate

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 ...

as an NCAA Division I sport at Lamar University. On August 1, 2011 former

head coach Holly Bruder was announced as the finalist to fill the head coaching position at Lamar after over 20 years without a program. 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. 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 Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

, a claim disputed by multiple other players. Lamar placed Bruder on administrative leave around two weeks earlier. In an email to the player, Lamar athletic director Marco Born stated that Lamar "could and should have done a better job of respecting erexpression of erfaith." The following week, Bruder filed a formal appeal with Lamar.

Head coaching record

Source for Denison: Source for Morehead State:

Personal life

Born in

, Bruder is 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.

References

External links

Lamar biography of Bruder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruder, Holly 1977 births Living people American softball coaches Alma Scots softball players Albion Britons softball coaches Bluffton Beavers softball coaches Denison Big Red softball coaches Lamar Lady Cardinals softball coaches Morehead State Eagles softball coaches American LGBT sportspeople People from Presque Isle County, Michigan Softball players from Michigan LGBT softball players