STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford's Jessica Allister and Tori Nyberg have been named the National Coach and Assistant Coach of the Year, respectively, by Extra Inning Softball.
Stanford has displayed considerable progress each year under Allister, who owns a 196-112 overall record in six seasons on The Farm and a career coaching record of 486-219.
Stanford (47-15, 14-10 Pac-12) produced one of its best seasons in school history in 2023, finishing two wins shy of a spot in the national championship series. The Cardinal made its third NCAA Women's College World Series appearance overall and first since 2004.
Achieving its fifth-best win total in school history and best finish since a 48-11 campaign in 2009, the Cardinal remained a top-10 fixture all season and was ranked as high as No. 3 in several final polls.
Allister has directed the Cardinal to four NCAA appearances with back-to-back NCAA Super Regional showings. She has guided the Cardinal to 11 NCAA appearances as a player (2001-04), assistant (2007-09) and head coach (2019, 2021-23).
Serving as Stanford's pitching coach, Nyberg guided the Cardinal staff to a 1.52 ERA in 2023. Collectively, freshman NiJaree Canady, senior Alana Vawter and junior Regan Krause held opponents to a .202 batting average and allowed just 90 earned runs on the season.
Under Nyberg's tutelage, Canady was named the TUCCI/NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year, while Vawter earned her first career All-American honors.
Canady (17-3, 33 appearances, 24 starts) led the country in ERA (0.57) and strikeouts per seven innings (11.3). Canady also ranked second in hits allowed per seven innings (3.32). Canady, who in 135.0 innings led the Cardinal with 218 strikeouts while walking only 21, threw two no-hitters while accounting for eight of Stanford's 21 shutouts, a total that ranked seventh in the country. Canady tossed 10 complete games and limited opponents to a .137 batting average. In NCAA play, Canady allowed five total runs on 16 hits in 36.0 innings with 50 strikeouts.
Vawter (21-8, 1.81 ERA) became the 17th NFCA All-American in school history and first since Kayla Bonstrom's second team nod in 2015. She anchored one of the most dominant pitching staffs in the nation, with the Cardinal boasting the country's best strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.41) and ranking third in ERA (1.52). Vawter started 27 games, striking out 155 hitters in 190.0 innings to go along with four shutouts.
