Saint Louis Billikens Athletics

CHRISTY CONNOYER’S SAINT LOUIS MILESTONE VICTORIES
No. 1 – 1-0 vs. Southern in Hammond, La. (Feb. 11, 2011)
No. 50 – 5-3 at Saint Joseph’s (April 29, 2012)
No. 100 – 2-1 at SIUE (April 15, 2014)
No. 143 – 7-2 vs. SIUE (April 28, 2015); became the winningest coach in SLU softball history
No. 150 – 5-4 vs. LIU Brooklyn in Fort Myers, Fla. (Feb. 20, 2016)
No. 200 – 5-2 vs. Chattanooga in Oxford, Miss. (March 3, 2018)
No. 250 – 4-3 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (March 11, 2020)
No. 300 – 12-4 vs. St. Bonaventure in Cape Girardeau, Mo. (March 18, 2023)
No. 350 – 12-3 at Fordham (April 28, 2024)

2023 and 2025 Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year
 
As she guides the Saint Louis University softball program in the 2026 campaign – her 16th at the helm – Christy Connoyer is the longest-serving head coach in team history.
 
Connoyer, who was inducted into the Metro St. Louis Softball Hall of Fame in March 2025, also is Billiken softball’s winningest coach. She concluded the 2025 season with a 387-372 record as the Saint Louis mentor and a 418-402 career mark.
 
The 2025 Billikens made history by earning the program's first Atlantic 10 Conference Championship title and first NCAA Tournament berth. SLU, which finished second in the A-10 regular-season standings to claim a first-round bye for a third straight year, won the league tournament in dramatic fashion. After losing their first game, the Bills -- who qualified for the A-10 Championship for an 11th time in 12 seasons -- registered four consecutive one-run victories, including two over Fordham on Championship Saturday.

Saint Louis' 34 wins were second most in program history and included three school-record winning streaks -- 15 games overall, 16 A-10 regular-season games and 12 home games, all of which ranked among the top three longest active streaks in NCAA Division I. Combined with 30 wins in 2023 – a season that saw the Billikens capture the A-10 regular-season title – and 31 wins in 2024, Saint Louis’ 95 victories over the past three seasons are the most of any three-year stretch in program history.

Individual history also was made in 2025 as Abby Mallo became the first Billiken softball player to garner A-10 Player of the Year accolades. Mallo's selection to the All-Conference first team gave Saint Louis at least one player on the top unit for a 12th straight year and 13th time in 14 seasons. She went on to become the first in team history to be named A-10 Championship Most Outstanding Player.

SLU collected two more A-10 postseason major awards in 2025. Chloe Rhine became the first Billiken to be named the league's Defensive Player of the Year, and Connoyer picked up Coach of the Year plaudits for a second time in three seasons.
 
Connoyer has coached student-athletes who have earned A-10 postseason accolades (All-Conference first or second team, All-Rookie, All-Tournament) 81 times. The six seasons between 2019 and 2025 (excluding the 2020 COVID-19 season, when no All-Conference teams were chosen) have been especially fruitful, producing more than half (47) of those selections including 13 first-team nods.

Connoyer also has coached A-10 major-award winners Brianna Lore (2014 Pitcher of the Year), Gabbie Kowalik (2019 Rookie of the Year) and Isabel Royle (2024 Rookie of the Year).
 
Billiken players have garnered All-Region plaudits 14 times under Connoyer’s watch; 2025 selections Mallo (second team) and Taylor Hochman (third team) gave Saint Louis at least one All-Region choice for a fifth straight year and 10th time in the past 11 seasons. Included in the group are first-team honorees Alex Nickel (2015) and Cami Newbanks (2024).

Additionally, Connoyer has coached three players -- Kristin Nicoletti, Lore and Nickel -- who are enshrined in the Billiken Hall of Fame.
 
Excellence in the classroom also has been a hallmark of Connoyer’s program. SLU has achieved a top-20 grade point average among NCAA Division I softball programs every year since 2014-15 (excluding 2020), including third in 2015-16, sixth in 2016-17 and 2018-19, and ninth in 2020-21. The Billikens have achieved the A-10’s top GPA numerous times.
 
Billikens have earned a spot on the 10-member A-10 All-Academic team 23 times during Connoyer’s years in Midtown; 12 of those selections occurred between 2021 and 2025, including a program-record three in 2022 and 2025 (Hochman, Mallo, Natalie Sullivan). Saint Louis has placed two student-athletes on the prestigious list in seven additional seasons of the Connoyer era and has had at least one honoree in every season since 2014.
 
In addition, Lore (2016) and Kristi Stevenson (2022) were awarded A-10 Postgraduate Scholarships.

ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS OF CHRISTY CONNOYER'S SLU COACHING TENURE  

“We are excited to have Christy Connoyer as our head softball coach,” SLU Director of Athletics Chris May said upon Connoyer’s hiring. “Christy is from our region, she’s familiar with the St. Louis-area softball scene, and she brings a wealth of Division I coaching experience to the position. We believe she will be able to recruit the caliber of student-athletes who will allow SLU to contend for Atlantic 10 Conference titles. Christy knows what it takes to win, having been part of successful programs as a player and as a coach. Her commitment to academic excellence and passion for competitive success match our goals at Saint Louis University.”
 
“Being the head coach at Saint Louis University is a fantastic opportunity,” Connoyer said. “There is a tradition of excellence in academics and athletics at SLU, and I am excited for the opportunity to build on that tradition. I’m from the area and still have family close, so I’m thrilled to return to such a great city. I am passionate about softball and academics, and there is an amazing combination of the two at Saint Louis.”
 
A native of Bethalto, Illinois, Connoyer arrived at SLU following five seasons as associate head coach at Southern Illinois, where she contributed to a highly successful program while working primarily with the Salukis’ hitting and defense. During her tenure, SIU consistently was ranked among the top teams in the Missouri Valley Conference in several statistical categories. The Salukis led the MVC with a .283 batting average in Connoyer’s first season, and they topped the league and ranked fifth in the nation in fielding percentage (.976) in her second year.
 
SIU made two NCAA Championship appearances (2006 and 2007) during Connoyer’s tenure and earned the highest NFCA ranking in school history (No. 18 in 2008 and 2009). In 2010, Connoyer and her colleagues received MVC Coaching Staff of the Year accolades after leading the Salukis to the league’s regular-season title.
 
Prior to her stint at Southern Illinois, Connoyer spent one season as head coach at Tulsa. She guided the Golden Hurricane to a 31-30 mark in 2005, becoming the first coach in program history to compile a winning record in her first season. Two of those wins were against in-state rival and perennial power No. 5 Oklahoma, the highest-ranked opponent Tulsa had ever defeated.
 
Connoyer’s first foray into collegiate coaching was at Purdue, where she spent eight seasons as an assistant coach. She assisted with the Boilermakers’ hitting and defensive instruction.
 
International coaching experience also appears on Connoyer’s resumé. She served as an assistant coach for the USA Athletes International team that won the championship of the 2011 Softball Australia International Challenge Series in Sydney. The tournament was played at the Sydney Olympic Softball Centre, site of the 2000 Olympic softball competition. In addition, Connoyer was on a USAAI staff that coached an American squad in the Netherlands in 2018 and 2019.
 
In addition, Connoyer has been heavily involved in collegiate softball off the field. She served on the NFCA All-America Selection Committee as the Mid-Atlantic Region voting representative from 2013-16, and she was Chair of the All-America Committee from 2015-16. From 2017-23, Connoyer was the A-10’s representative on the NFCA Head Coach Committee. She also has delivered presentations at NFCA clinics in Kansas City, Minneapolis, Louisville and Portland.
 
Before making the move to Purdue, Connoyer was head varsity volleyball coach and assistant varsity basketball and softball coach at Loyola College Preparatory in Shreveport, Louisiana. She led the new volleyball program to a pair of state tournament appearances and helped the softball team win the 1996 Class 2A state championship.
 
A shortstop in her playing days, Connoyer was a four-time first-team All-Conference selection at the University of Notre Dame. She received team Most Valuable Player honors in 1993 and was voted team captain in 1994. Her playing career culminated with an Olympic Level II tryout in 1995.
 
Connoyer graduated from Notre Dame in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in government and international studies. She went on to earn a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Portland (Notre Dame, Indiana) in 1996.