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, United States. The university began as Morehead Normal School, which opened its doors in 1887. The Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, a two-yea ...

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

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

Denison University Denison University is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, United States. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. It was first called ...

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 three programs that have earned programmatic accreditation: education, nursing and social work. The university has ...

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

Albion College Albion College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Albion, Michigan. The college was founded in 1835 and its undergraduate population was approximately 1,500 students as of Fall 2021 ...

(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. It is the county seat of and largest city in Presque Isle County, Michigan, Presque Isle County. The city had a population of 2,850 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a slight increa ...

. She played softball and soccer at

Alma College Alma College is a Private college, private Presbyterian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan. It enrolls approximately 1,200 students and is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accre ...

, 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 Champion ...

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

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

, 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 Schulenburg High School women’s basketball team. Before moving to Kansas, he served as women's basketball head coach from 2013–2018 at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valle ...

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 (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

, 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

Combined source: Source for Denison: Source for Morehead State:

Personal life

Born in

, Bruder is formerly 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 LGBTQ sportspeople People from Presque Isle County, Michigan Softball players from Michigan LGBTQ softball players