Alaynie Woollard, a rising name in the Illinois softball community with strong Midwest ties, finished her second season as an assistant coach for Loyola University Chicago softball in 2026 after joining the program in July 2024.
Alongside head coach Alicia Abbott and assistant coach Ali Brems, Woollard helped guide the Ramblers through a historic season as Loyola clinched its first-ever Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship, resulting in the No. 1 tournament seed and a runners-up finish. It marked the program's eighth overall regular season championship and fifth outright. The Ramblers posted a 28-24 overall record and went 18-6 in conference play, matching the most single-season league wins since 2023.
Loyola swept four of its conference series (Dayton, Saint Joseph's, Rhode Island and George Washington), three of which came on the road. After clinching the regular season, the Ramblers received a first round bye in the A-10 tournament, where they fell to the Fordham Rams in the opener and later in the championship game. Loyola defeated Saint Joseph's to stay alive then erased a 7-0 deficit against Dayton and advanced to the championship round on sophomore Kayci Rigby's walk-off home run. The Ramblers rematched an undefeated Rams squad and fell 7-4 in a heartbreaker finale. Four Ramblers earned All-Championship Team honors: freshman pitcher Anna Kiel, senior outfielder Sierra Sass, redshirt sophomore infielder Liz Sedakis and sophomore outfielder Averi Vander Woude.
As the primary fielding coach, Woollard coached the Ramblers' defense to a .947 fielding percentage. Redshirt junior catcher Abbie Gregus led the conference with 14 caught stealing while Lesnicki was fourth in putouts (314) and Sedakis fourth in assists (104).
In her first season at Loyola, Woollard helped guide the Ramblers to their third straight A-10 Tournament appearance and the No. 6 seed after posting a 14-12 conference ledger. Loyola's outfield finished the 2025 season with a .946 fielding percentage and 20 double plays.
Woollard spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Northern Illinois, where she was also a former player, . Before her time at NIU, Woollard spent three years at Green Bay, having started her collegiate coaching career at Franklin College near Indianapolis.
During her two seasons at NIU, Woollard helped the Huskies amass 44 wins, including 26 in 2023, which were the program's most since 2019. Three Huskies were tabbed NFCA All-Region under her tutelage, while 11 earned All-MAC honors, including Kiley Conner, who was named the MAC's Freshman Player of the Year in 2023. With an emphasis on hard work in the classroom, the Huskies' 2022-23 team GPA of 3.753 ranked fourth-best in the nation by the NFCA.
Prior to working in DeKalb, Woollard played a key role in leading Green Bay to 23 wins in 2021, the program's most since 2014, with 18 of those victories against Horizon League opponents. After the season, Green Bay's team GPA of 3.974 ranked third among all DI teams by the NFCA, marking the highest ranking in the program's history. In 2022, she helped the Phoenix build to 25 wins and secure their first postseason victory since 2015. Woollard helped mentor one Horizon League Player of the Year, two NFCA All-Region players, and eleven All-Horizon League student-athletes.
Woollard began her collegiate coaching career in 2019 as an assistant coach at Franklin College. She helped the Grizzlies achieve 18 wins and secure a spot in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Tournament.
As a four-year student-athlete at NIU, Woollard saw action at shortstop, third base, and catcher. She holds the program's single-season triples record with nine in 2018, while her 10 home runs in 2015 are tied for fourth-most in a single season. Throughout her career (2015-2018), her 27 homers and 13 triples are both tied for third-most all-time. An NFCA All-Region honoree in 2018, all four of Woollard's teams reached the MAC Tournament. In addition to being a student-athlete, she spent her summers coaching the Indiana Shockwaves 16U travel ball team.
Woollard is a New Castle, Ind. native and holds a bachelor's in psychology and a master's in sports management from NIU.
