On Monday, UNC Greensboro softball publicly announced the hiring of Jackie Lis as an assistant coach. D1Softball’s Justin McLeod reported the news on Friday, August 14.
“Jackie will add tremendous insight to our program,” head coach Janell Breneman stated in a release. “As a talented and versatile player in college and in the AUSL, she brings a wealth of experience and a true competitor’s mindset. She analyzes and teaches hitting exceptionally well, and her love for competition will make an immediate impact on our student-athletes and program.”
Lis just completed her rookie season in the AUSL as an infielder for the Texas Volts. During the 2026 season, Lis hit .292 with an .882 OPS and knocked 2 home runs with 8 RBIs in 22 games played. Texas Volts general manager Cat Osterman brought Lis in as a provisional pick out of the reserve athlete pool, for what was thought to be temporary. But Lis remained for the season.
“I really didn’t think I was gonna be able to stay the entire time,” Lis said in a previous Southeastern Softball Wire interview. “I’ll be completely honest. I knew that I was kind of filling a temporary spot while we waited on some injuries to get all healed up and feeling better, but I got hot at the right time, so I think it was hard for them to justify sending me back.”
Collegiately, Lis played three seasons at Southern Illinois University, where she was a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team player. Her sophomore season, she was named the conference MVP. Lis left SIU as a career .353 hitter with 44 home runs, 141 RBIs and 154 runs scored on 175 hits before transferring to Texas Tech for the 2026 season.
Lis leveled up with the competition and had her best season yet. She hit .415 with 21 home runs, 75 RBIs, and tallied 73 hits in a season that ended in a Women’s College World Series national championship series run. Lis was named All-Big 12 First Team and NFCA All-American Third Team.
Now, Lis joins a massive group of professional softball players who are also collegiate coaches.
