Coaching: Kyla "Hall" Holas

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Now married, coaching at the University of Houston and known as Kyla Holas. Kyla was a three-time NCAA All-American at UL, where she set seven school records in pitching and compiled a career .301 batting average.

In 1993, Kyla Holas led the Cajuns to a third-place finish in the College World Series while receiving all-tournament accolades.

Kyla was a two-time finalist (1993-94) for the prestigious Honda Broderick Cup, a national award given to the top female student-athlete at the NCAA level.

In 1999 Kyla was inducted into the Louisiana's Sports-Club Hall of Fame.

Where is she now

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Coach: Kyla Holas (fourth season, all at Houston).
·2003 record: 36-24, 15-9 in Conference USA (third).

When Kyla Holas was hired to build and coach the first University of Houston softball team four years ago, she had a vision of how successful the program might become. That vision could become reality this spring as the Cougars put their first graduating class on the diamond.

Six seniors have been with Holas since the program began with the 2001 season. That group consists of pitchers Jamie Falco (Tomball) and * Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.), catcher Arelis Ferreris (Arlington Bowie), infielder Melissa Lynch (Kingwood) and outfielders Lindsay Durham and Candis Turnbo (both Pearland).

Houston finished 36-24 last season and was 15-9 in Conference USA play, both program bests. The Cougars led C-USA with a conference-record 59 home runs and a .450 slugging percentage.

Two disappointing losses in the C-USA tournament, played at the Cougar softball field, denied UH its first postseason berth. It did serve as a building block.

"I feel like we are right on track," Holas said. "We have taken the bumps and lumps and grown in the necessary way. We felt we were one game away from regionals last year. It's definitely been on our minds ever since."

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