Liberty Receives NFHCA South Region Coaching Staff of the Year Award

NFHCA Release

Following the best season in program history, the Liberty field hockey coaching staff has received the 2021 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) South Region Coaching Staff of the Year award.

The NFHCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year award is presented to one coaching staff in each division’s region for its performance during the most recent field hockey season.

A total of five staffs were named region coaching staff of the year, and this puts Liberty in the running to be named NFHCA National Coaching Staff of the Year. The 2021 NFHCA Division I National Coaching Staff of the Year will be announced on Jan. 13, 2022 at the NFHCA Awards Dinner sponsored by AstroTurf® at the 2022 NFHCA Annual Convention.

The Liberty field hockey coaching staff consists of fifth-year head coach Nikki Parsley-Blocker, fourth-year assistant coach Heather Hefner and second-year assistant coach Alan Good. The staff was also selected as the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year for a second straight season, this fall.

The staff led Liberty to its best season in school history, as the Lady Flames finished as the national runner-up. Liberty won a program-record 20 games in the fall with only three losses and was the only team in the country with 20 or more wins. The Lady Flames’ historic season included the nation’s longest winning streak, 17 games, from Sept. 17-Nov. 19.

Liberty earned its first-ever win over a top-ranked team, defeating No. 1 Rutgers 3-2 in a shootout, Nov. 14 in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Field Hockey Championship. The victory sent the Lady Flames to their first Final Four in program history. Liberty went on to defeat No. 5 Maryland 3-2 in double overtime of the national semifinals, advancing to the national championship game. The Lady Flames’ Final Four and championship game appearance were both firsts in school history for any Liberty Athletics program at the Division I level.

Parsley-Blocker, Hefner and Good guided Liberty to a 10-3 mark against ranked teams in 2021, another single-season school record. Liberty won the BIG EAST Championship title for the first time in program history, defeating UConn 1-0 in the final on Nov. 7. The Lady Flames also were a perfect 7-0 in conference play for the first time in school history, earning the BIG EAST regular season title for the first time as well.

Liberty featured a program-record six NFHCA All-South Region selections, highlighted by NFHCA South Region Player of the Year Jill Bolton. Liberty paced all BIG EAST squads with six all-conference honorees, led by BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year Daniella Rhodes.

Liberty featured the nation’s top offense, ranking first in the country in goals per game (3.48), scoring average (3.38), points per game (9.96) and assists per game (3.00). Liberty finished in the No. 6 position in the final NCAA Field Hockey RPI and was ranked among the top-10 teams in the nation in each of the latest six national polls.

This is the first time in program history that a Liberty coaching staff has earned this award. In 2014, former head coach Jodi Murphy earned NFHCA South Region Coach of the Year recognition prior to the award switching to a coaching staff award in 2017.