University of North Carolina Athletics
Nicole Bond to Join Carolina Softball Staff
December 4, 2018 | Softball
CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina head softball coach Donna J. Papa is glad to announce the addition of volunteer assistant coach Nicole Bond to complete the Tar Heels' coaching staff.
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"We are pleased to have Nicole join the Carolina Softball staff as our volunteer coach," Papa said. "She brings another perspective to the team, having played in the Big Ten at Northwestern. Nicole has good insight into the game as a former pitcher as she will be mainly assisting with our pitchers and catchers, in addition to other duties. Nicole is a North Carolina native so it is great to have someone join us who is familiar with both the ACC and UNC."
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Nicole Bond comes to North Carolina after a successful pitching career competing in the Big Ten Conference at Northwestern University. Bond wrapped up her collegiate tenure with 71 appearances, 14 wins and four trips to the NCAA Tournament.
"At the conclusion of my playing career," Bond said, "it was important to me to give back to the game which had given me endless opportunities and taught me an abundance of life lessons. The opportunity to do so at a nationally prominent program, while learning from a hall of fame quality coaching staff is more than I could have ever imagined. I'm incredibly humbled and excited to experience the game of softball from a coach's perspective. I am very much looking forward to being a part of Carolina softball and can't wait to see what this season has in store."
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A Clayton, North Carolina native, Bond made 40 starts with nine complete games for the Wildcats. The pitcher struck out 131 batters in 208.2 innings of work, limiting her opponents to a .270 average.
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Bond went an undefeated 7-0 as a freshman in 2014, but threw just 14.0 innings over the next two years due to a season-ending injury prior to the 2015 season. She returned to toss a complete-game victory over Tulsa in NU's first game of 2017. The pitcher earned 19 starts, including 11 against top-11 ranked opponents. Bond earned a fifth year of eligibility in 2018 after being granted a medical hardship waiver. In 2018, Bond contributed to the Wildcats 38 win season featuring their first trip to the Big Ten Tournament Championship since 2008. She doled a career-best, nine strikeouts twice and hurled two shutouts during her tenure. Bond highlighted her final season with a complete-game, four-hitter against Nebraska en route to an 8-3 NU victory.
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Bond was named the Freshman of the Week in 2014. Inking her name in the Big Ten record book, Bond is also one of 11 pitchers and only the second Northwestern pitcher in program history to post at 0.00 ERA during the Big Ten Tournament.
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Bond was named a 2018 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors three times and NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete honors once. Off the field, Bond was a member of the NU P.R.I.D.E. Leadership Institute, Medill School of Journalism Academic Standards Committee and served as a selected representative of her Masters' cohort on the Medill Leadership Committee during her time at Northwestern. Outside of the classroom, Bond completed four internships in marketing, sales and most recently, as a strategy consulting intern with Target Data Corporation. Bond graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, a business institutions minor and integrated marketing communications certificate. She completed her Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications from the Medill School of Journalism in August 2018.
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Stay up to date with Carolina Softball by following the Tar Heels on Twitter and Instagram.
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"We are pleased to have Nicole join the Carolina Softball staff as our volunteer coach," Papa said. "She brings another perspective to the team, having played in the Big Ten at Northwestern. Nicole has good insight into the game as a former pitcher as she will be mainly assisting with our pitchers and catchers, in addition to other duties. Nicole is a North Carolina native so it is great to have someone join us who is familiar with both the ACC and UNC."
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Nicole Bond comes to North Carolina after a successful pitching career competing in the Big Ten Conference at Northwestern University. Bond wrapped up her collegiate tenure with 71 appearances, 14 wins and four trips to the NCAA Tournament.
"At the conclusion of my playing career," Bond said, "it was important to me to give back to the game which had given me endless opportunities and taught me an abundance of life lessons. The opportunity to do so at a nationally prominent program, while learning from a hall of fame quality coaching staff is more than I could have ever imagined. I'm incredibly humbled and excited to experience the game of softball from a coach's perspective. I am very much looking forward to being a part of Carolina softball and can't wait to see what this season has in store."Â
A Clayton, North Carolina native, Bond made 40 starts with nine complete games for the Wildcats. The pitcher struck out 131 batters in 208.2 innings of work, limiting her opponents to a .270 average.
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Bond went an undefeated 7-0 as a freshman in 2014, but threw just 14.0 innings over the next two years due to a season-ending injury prior to the 2015 season. She returned to toss a complete-game victory over Tulsa in NU's first game of 2017. The pitcher earned 19 starts, including 11 against top-11 ranked opponents. Bond earned a fifth year of eligibility in 2018 after being granted a medical hardship waiver. In 2018, Bond contributed to the Wildcats 38 win season featuring their first trip to the Big Ten Tournament Championship since 2008. She doled a career-best, nine strikeouts twice and hurled two shutouts during her tenure. Bond highlighted her final season with a complete-game, four-hitter against Nebraska en route to an 8-3 NU victory.
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Bond was named the Freshman of the Week in 2014. Inking her name in the Big Ten record book, Bond is also one of 11 pitchers and only the second Northwestern pitcher in program history to post at 0.00 ERA during the Big Ten Tournament.
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Bond was named a 2018 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors three times and NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete honors once. Off the field, Bond was a member of the NU P.R.I.D.E. Leadership Institute, Medill School of Journalism Academic Standards Committee and served as a selected representative of her Masters' cohort on the Medill Leadership Committee during her time at Northwestern. Outside of the classroom, Bond completed four internships in marketing, sales and most recently, as a strategy consulting intern with Target Data Corporation. Bond graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, a business institutions minor and integrated marketing communications certificate. She completed her Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications from the Medill School of Journalism in August 2018.
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Stay up to date with Carolina Softball by following the Tar Heels on Twitter and Instagram.
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