Deifel Adds Yolanda McRae to Coaching Staff

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Razorback softball head coach Courtney Deifel has announced the addition of Yolanda McRae as an assistant coach. McRae was part of Deifel’s coaching staff at Maryland that helped orchestrate a 16-game improvement during the 2015 season. Along with her time at Maryland, the Dublin, Ga., native, has previous experience at Georgia, Georgia Tech and Virginia.

Along with Maryland’s win-loss improvement in 2015, McRae helped the Terrapins’ offense take tremendous strides at the plate. The Terrapins hit .309 under McRae’s watch, a 40-point improvement from 2014, to go along with a jump from 20 to a program-record 69 home runs in 2015. With 339 runs, the team’s scoring was up more than 150 runs from the previous year. Maryland finished the season fourth nationally in doubles and 27th in scoring and home runs. She helped Maryland to single-season team records in doubles, RBI and walks. Individually, McRae coached three All-Big Ten performers.

McRae is no stranger to success in the Southeastern Conference as a former coach and student-athlete at Georgia. She spent the 2006 and 2014 seasons as a volunteer assistant at Georgia. During their 2006 season, the Bulldogs won the SEC East title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. In her second coaching stint in Athens, McRae helped Georgia to the 2014 SEC Tournament title and an appearance in the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament. McRae was an outfielder for the Bulldogs in 2003 and was part of the program’s first-ever SEC regular-season title.

She spent the 2012 and 2013 seasons as an assistant coach at Virginia in which she guided the Cavaliers to increased offensive production. Compared to the season before McRae’s arrival, the UVA offense hit 17 more home runs—up to 29 from 12—during the 2012 campaign. McRae also coached Giannina Cipiolloni, the Cavaliers’ all-time leader in stolen bases. Under McRae’s watch, she registered 63 of her 89 career stolen bases.

McRae had two previous seasons at Maryland in 2010 and 2011 as an assistant coach. In that two-year span, Maryland tallied a 74-43 record with two appearances in the NCAA Tournament. During the 2011 season, the Terrapins posted the second-highest win total in program history with a 40-19 record which included a third-place finish in the ACC with a 12-7 mark. That same season, McRae helped lead four players to All-ACC accolades

In her first role as an assistant coach, McRae spent three seasons (2007-09) at Georgia Tech where she helped lead the program to a three-year record of 132-62 (.680) and 216 home runs during her time in Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets hit a nation-leading 96 home runs in 2007 which, at the time, stood as the No. 9 single-season tally in NCAA history. Georgia Tech was an NCAA Tournament selection in all three years with McRae including a Super Regionals appearance in 2009.

McRae also coached a pair of Olympians at Georgia Tech with Caitlin Lever and Jennifer Yee representing their native Canada at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Yee led the Canadian National Team in batting average and posted the fifth-best overall batting average (.348) during the Olympic competition.

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