Former UNCG standout Vanessa Williams enters her second season as an assistant coach for the Spartans.
In her first season as UNCG's pitching coach, Williams saw her staff of three combine for 324 strikeouts and seven shutouts. Williams mentored two of the top pitchers in school history in Hannah Angel and Amber Harrell, who finished the season second and third in school history in career strikeouts - behind only Williams herself.
Angel got off to the best start of her career, opening the year 4-0, while Harrell heated up at the end of the season, closing the campaign with wins in five of her last six decisions. Harrell earned Southern Conference Pitcher of the Week honors twice during the season.
Williams, who pitched for UNCG from 2004-07 under her maiden name of Vanessa Oakes, graduated as the Spartans' career leader in strikeouts with 565.
As a senior in 2007, Williams led the Spartans in just about every pitching category, ranking first in ERA (2.35), opposing batting average (.230), wins (14), innings pitched (187.1), strikeouts (166), games started (28), complete games (21) and shutouts (six). Oakes earned a pair of league honors her senior year, as she was named the SoCon Pitcher of the Week on March 5, 2007, and earned a spot on the SoCon All-Tournament Team after pitching every inning of the Spartans' four games at the tournament.
Williams led or shared the lead in wins and strikeouts each season she was in the circle for the Spartans, becoming just the second pitcher in school history to lead either of those categories in all four years of her career.
As a freshman, Williams was named MVP of her hometown UNC Wilmington Seahawk Classic and followed that up by being named team captain in just her sophomore season.
Williams ranks among the top UNCG pitchers in program history, as she appears in the top 10 of seven career categories and six single-season categories.
For the four years prior to being hired at UNCG, Williams worked as a pitching, hitting, fielding and catching instructor throughout Greensboro and the Triad area. She served as the primary pitching instructor to the Triad Power U10-U18 teams and acted as a pitching consultant for area high school programs and individual student-athletes.
Williams married UNCG strength and conditioning coach Mark Williams in July 2009.
