July 25, 2002

Lisa Navas, an assistant coach at North Carolina the past two seasons, has been named head softball coach at NC State. The school is adding softball as its 23rd varsity sport, and Navas' team will begin intercollegiate competition in 2004. NC State fielded a slowpitch team from 1975-83, but has not sponsored softball since then.

Navas joined the UNC staff in 2001 after nine years as the head coach at Barry University in Miami, Fla. While at Carolina, she helped coach the Tar Heels to an Atlantic Coast Conference Championship in 2001 and a runner-up finish in 2002, when UNC compiled a 34-30 record.

Under Navas' direction, Barry compiled a record of 335-134-1. The Buccanneers finished as the NCAA Division II runner-up in 1998 and fifth in the nation in 1994, and advanced to the regional tournament in six of her nine years at the school. Navas was named South Region Coach of the Year in 1994 and earned Sunshine State Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1993 and '97. She also served as assistant athletic director and compliance coordinator at Barry.