Head Coach Melissa McElvain is pleased to announce the addition of Sarah Byrne to her coaching staff as a volunteer assistant. Byrne (pronounced Burn) spent the previous four years as the Head Coach of Dominican University of California.
Byrne, a Torrance Calif. native, left Dominican as the winningest coach in program history and led the Penguins to their best season in the Division II era in 2014. Under her watch, Dominican had six all-conference players and one all-region honoree. Dominican also produced 53 All-Conference All-Academic selections and 22 NFCA Academic All-Americans during Byrne’s tenure.
Byrne was also heavily involved in the development and construction of Penguin Field, which gave Dominican softball an on-campus home for the first time in 2015.
Before arriving at Dominican as an assistant coach in 2012, Byrne held assistant coaching jobs at Cuesta College, Mt. San Antonio College, and Cal State Northridge, where the Matadors were co-Big West Champs in 2010.
As a designated player and outfielder at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Byrne earned All-Big West recognition all four years, while helping the Mustangs post winning records each year. As a junior, she led the Mustangs with 37 RBI and her 14 doubles that season are the third most in a single season at Cal Poly. Her senior year, Byrne led the Mustangs in doubles and walks, and was second on the team in home runs, RBI and total bases.
Byrne is in the top-ten all-time in nearly every offensive category for Cal Poly for both single-season and career accomplishments. She graduated in 2008 with Bachelors of Science in Business Marketing.
