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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The only Seton Hall women's golf coach in history, Sara Doell, has stepped down after seven successful years at the helm. Doell guided the Pirates to three straight BIG EAST Conference championships from 2014-2016 and was named BIG EAST Coach of the Year three times.
In her time at Seton Hall, she cemented herself as one of the young, up-and--coming standout coaches in the country. In addition to three consecutive BIG EAST titles, her teams made three straight NCAA Regional appearances and claimed 10 tournament titles.
She is stepping down to accept the head coaching position at the University of San Francisco.
"Sara built our program from the ground up and elevated it to a championship level in a very short period of time," said Director of Athletics Pat Lyons. "Through her leadership and guidance, our women's golf team has emerged as one of the marquee programs in the northeast and we are now well-positioned for further success in the future. We wish Sara the best of luck in San Francisco."
Doell's finest coaching performance may have been in 2016. After two straight titles, the Pirates entered the 2016 BIG EAST Championship as the fourth-ranked team in the field of six. Trailing by five strokes entering the second round, the Pirates fired their best individual round of the year and vaulted to the lead. In the end, the Pirates won the BIG EAST title by 12 strokes, the largest margin of victory among their three titles.
"It took a highly unique situation for me to even think about moving on from Seton Hall," Doell said. "Seton Hall has been a huge part of my life and I can't thank Pat Lyons and his staff enough for providing me with this remarkable opportunity. I take great pride in what we've been able to build in South Orange, and I know that this team has only begun to tap into its potential. Seton Hall will always be a part of me. Once a Pirate, always a Pirate."
In 2015, Doell's Pirates became the first Seton Hall program to repeat as BIG EAST champions with a thrilling one-stroke victory in the 2015 BIG EAST Conference Championship, thus earning its second straight trip to the NCAA Regionals. In a banner year, the Pirates won a program-record four tournaments, and Doell was named LPGA National Coach of the Year.
Just four years after the program's inception, Doell led Seton Hall to its first BIG EAST Championship in 2014. The Pirates won the new-look BIG EAST field by seven strokes to claim the conference title and earn the team's first-ever trip to the NCAA Regionals. Earlier in the year, Seton Hall also claimed the team title at the Sacred Heart Fall Classic and tallied six additional top-five finishes.
In 2011, Doell built the Pirates' program from the ground up, and only 15 events into the program's inception, Seton Hall won a team tournament, the Homewood Suites Siena Invitational. She guided a team that finished a staggering 172-over-par at its first BIG EAST Tournament in 2011 into a champion in 2014.
Furthermore, Doell's student-athletes have consistently enjoyed success both on the course and in the classroom. Six different Pirates have been named to All-BIG EAST Teams during her tenure, six more have earned Women's Golf Coaches Association All-American Scholar status and every golfer she's ever had at Seton Hall has been named to at least one BIG EAST All-Academic Team.
http://www.shupirates.com/news/2017/5/19/womens-golf-sara-doell-steps-down-at-seton-hall.aspx
