McDaniel College Women's Softball

Bill Snape was named the head swimming coach at McDaniel on Aug. 7, 2023 after serving in the same role at Gallaudet University where he was a four-time coach of the year and won three conference championships. Snape led the Bison for eight seasons from 2004-12, guiding the men to back-to-back North Eastern Atlantic Conference (NEAC) championships in 2011 and 2012 and the women to the title in 2011. The two teams also combined to set over 50 school records. Snape was a two-time NEAC Men's Swimming Coach of the Year in 2011 and 2012, NEAC Women's Swimming Coach of the Year in 2011, and Capital Athletic Conference Men's Swimming Coach of the Year in 2008. He mentored 24 first team all-conference selections, including four conference swimmer of the year recipients. In 2012, Snape received his second-straight coach of the year accolade after leading the men to their first winning season since 1965 and second consecutive NEAC championship. Senior Brian Bennett was also named the Swimmer of the Year for the second year in-a-row. Meanwhile, the women finished third and freshman Alexandra Polivanchuk was named NEAC Swimmer of the Year after Carlisle Robinson earned the honor in 2011. Snape served two appointments as the head coach of United States Deaf Swimming (USDS). He oversaw the national teams at the 2007 United States Deaf World Championships in Taipei, Taiwan as well as the 2011 World Deaf Swimming Championships in Coimbra, Portugal. That year, he was named World Swim Coach of the Year by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf as the US upset Russia for the world championship. A former Division I swimmer and water polo player at UCLA, Snape spent three years as the Associate Head Swim Coach for the George Washington University men's team from 1986-89. He graduated magna cum laude from the Honors College at UCLA in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in history before receiving his Juris Doctor degree from George Washington in 1989. Since 2007, Snape has served as Assistant Dean and Professor at American University's Washington College of Law teaching environmental and property law. He also still advocates on behalf of deaf athletics. In 2017, he successfully petitioned the NCAA to change the swimming competition rules to accommodate both visual and audial starting cues which benefit swimmers of all hearing capabilities. Snape and his family live on a nine-acre farm in Westminster, where they grow a variety of crops and raise goats and chickens.  

Zavolta was named head softball coach at McDaniel on Aug. 21, 2024. She is the sixth head coach in the 44-year history of the softball program and only the third since 1989. Prior to McDaniel, Zavolta spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Bridgewater College in Virginia where she helped the Eagles to an average of 20 wins per season and two appearances in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Softball Championship. She served as the Eagles’ recruiting coordinator, implemented practice plans, worked with pitchers and catchers and monitored each player’s academic standing.   Zavolta coached four years at her alma mater, Allegheny College, from 2018-22, serving as an assistant developing daily practice plans with the head coach and working on skill development, game preparation, and training. She worked with pitchers and catchers and managed all stages of the program’s recruiting efforts.   A native of Trafford, Pennsylvania, Zavolta played four seasons for the Gators, serving as team captain for three while earning three All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) honors. She started 113 career games as a catcher and shortstop and totaled a .297 batting average with 97 hits, including 18 doubles and four home runs, 56 RBIs, and 50 runs scored.   In 2018, Zavolta was named to the All-NCAC First Team as a senior, leading the Gators with four home runs and 32 RBIs while finishing second on the team with a .368 batting average. That year, she was also selected to the NCAC All-Tournament Team.   Zavolta graduated from Allegheny in May 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in global health studies. She received her master’s degree in Sports Management with a concentration in Intercollegiate Athletic Administration from California University of Pennsylvania in 2021.   Zavolta also has experience as a physical therapist and spent six years as a volunteer with Team Impact, teaching young players the fundamental skills of softball.  

Lebo-Dunn enters her fourth season at McDaniel in 2025. She works with the infielders and outfielders and serves as the recruiting coordinator. A 2013 graduate of Hood with a bachelor's degree in education, Lebo-Dunn played four seasons for the Blazers, earning Middle Atlantic Conference All-Commonwealth Conference Second Team honors as a senior in 2013. Lebo-Dunn received her master's in educational Leadership from Frostburg in 2017 and is her master's in kinesiology and exercise science from McDaniel in 2024. She also received her strength and conditioning certification in 2022. Lebo-Dunn has eight years of experience in special education, including seven as a case manager for Washington County Public Schools from 2014-21. She also spent one year as a special education teacher wth the Wicomico County Board of Education in 2014.  

Leishear enters his fourth season at McDaniel iin 2025. Leishear works primarily with the defense as well as serving as the recruiting director for Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Delaware.  

Brant enters his third year as assistant coach at McDaniel in 2024-25. A 2019 graduate of McDaniel, Brant was a four-year swimmer for the Green Terror and is working on his master’s degree at McDaniel. In addition to his role as an assistant coach, Brant also works as an elementary school teacher in Howard County and is a coach for the Green Terror Aquatic Club and Westminster Swim Team.  

Hines enters her second year as assistant coach at McDaniel in 2024-25. A 2023 graduate of Pfeiffer, Hines competed all four years for the Falcons. She is also an assistant coach for the Central Maryland YMCA and head swim coach and manager at the Westminster Riding Club.  

Smith enters the 2015 season with 248 victories to join Dix as the only Green Terror softball coaches to join the century club. After making two CC tournament appearances in his first seven years at the helm, Smith made a return trip in 2012 after garnering the conference regular-season title. For just the fourth time in the 12-year history of the CC tournament, the top seed was able to hold serve and McDaniel posted the conferences first championship-game run-rule victory, downing Washington 9-0 in six innings to claim the programs sixth title overall. Riding the right arm of CC Pitcher of the Year Caroline Brehm, Smiths Green Terror squad entered the NCAA tournament as the eighth seed in the Newport News Regional and made a magical run through the bracket. After dropping its first game to top-ranked Emory, the Green Terror recorded a 10th-inning walkoff win over Messiah, a 14-inning marathon victory over Ferrum, and a two-out, two-strike, bottom-of-the-seventh walkoff grand slam over Salisbury before falling to host and second-seeded Christopher Newport. Brehm threw every pitch of the regional to end her rookie season with a program- and conference-record 377 strikeouts. Smith matched Dixs best season ever with 30 wins in 2012 before being added as a full-time staff member for the first time, charged with also overseeing the Colleges athletics facilities. The mentor has always taken pride in a first-class softball facility and will now extend that passion to the entire department in his new position. Smiths squad returned to the CC tournament and earned bids to the ECAC South tournament in both 2013 and 2014. In 2015, Smith once again returned his Green Terror team to the top of the conference. Earning the regular-season title with a 14-2 conference mark, McDaniel held serve to win the tournament championship. Behind four-time CC Pitcher of the Year Brehm and seven all-conference selections the most in more than a decade the Green Terror finished with a 29-12 mark. Prior to his arrival at McDaniel, Smith coached softball in various capacities since 1998, including coaching at South Western High School in Hanover from 2000-03. Smith has been involved in the Junior Olympic-Amateur Softball Association (ASA) travel softball programs in York County, Pa. He also coached the 23-and-under York County College All-Star team, which played against competition that included the Greek Olympic Team. The 1986 graduate of Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, N.C., was an all-conference baseball player and played a season in the minor leagues. A graduate of Westminster High School, he was an all-area football player and selected to the first Maryland Crown all-state baseball team in 1982. Smith boasts an ASA certification as coach and instructor, and is a member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), where he serves on the Camp & Clinic committee. Over the past several years, he has conducted and instructed at several clinics and camps throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region, including the Green Terror Softball summer camps and fall/winter clinics. Smith lives in Hanover, Pa., with his wife Paula. They have three daughters, Brianna, who graduated from California (Pa.) in 2009, Tiffani, who graduated from Liberty in 2011, and Allysia, who graduated from McDaniel in the spring.