July 13, 2001

Melissa Jarrell, a UNC graduate who also served as a Tar Heel assistant coach for one season, has been named head softball coach at UNC Wilmington. Jarrell, 37, has coached on the collegiate and professional levels since earning her UNC degree in 1987.

Jarrell inherits a team that went 20-34 last season, 5-16 in the Southern Conference. Maggie St. Ledger, who coached the program through its first 18 seasons, resigned earlier this summer.

A native of Florence, S.C., Jarrell graduated from South Florence High and lettered at UNC from 1983-86. A catcher, she was named team MVP as a senior in 1986 and also served as co-captain that year, when the Tar Heels finished 35-13 in coach Donna Papa's first season in Chapel Hill,. Jarrell served as a Tar Heel assistant coach in 1987.

Jarrell's previous head coaching stops were at California-San Diego (1991-92) and Rhode Island (1993-99).