University of California - Los Angeles - UCLA Women's Softball

Inouye-Perez and her staff were named the NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year, the second straight season the Bruins earned the honor and third during Inouye-Perez's head coaching tenure (2010). In the classroom, the 2015 Graduation Success Rate was at 100 percent. In 2014, the Bruins recorded the nation's best winning percentage (.867) with a 52-8 record, the most wins for a UCLA team since 2003. Inouye-Perez picked up her 300th career coaching victory at Hawai'i on Feb. 8. The Bruins finished second in the Pac-12 (19-5) and tied for ninth nationally, reaching the Super Regional round of the NCAA Tournament. UCLA ranked fourth nationally in slugging, ninth in average and homers per game, 13th in runs per game and 18th in earned run average. Carda and LaRosa each earned First Team All-American accolades, with Carda also being named a Top Three finalist for the USA Softball National Player of the Year Award and Pac-12 Player of the Year. Six Bruins were named All-Region and seven were honored on the All-Pac-12 Teams. The Bruins posted a 40-20 record in 2013, tying for fifth in the Pac-12 with a 10-14 mark and reaching the Regional Championship game of the Louisville Regional. B.B. Bates was named Second Team NFCA All-American, four were honored on the All-Region squad and six earned All-Pac-12 accolades. In 2012, UCLA went 36-20 and tied for fourth in the Pac-12 with a 12-12 record. Four Bruins earned All-American honors, tied for the most for any school in 2012, as LaRosa was named First Team, Andrea Harrison and Katie Schroeder Second Team and Samantha Camuso Third Team. Seven were named to the All-Pac-12 Team, including Freshman of the Year LaRosa, while six were All-Region winners. In 2011, UCLA recorded a 36-19 mark and tied for sixth in the Pac-10 (9-12). Six Bruins were honored on the All-Conference Teams, while Harrison was named First Team All-Region and All-American. Inouye-Perez earned her 200th career victory on March 11 against Sacramento State. Inouye-Perez led the UCLA softball program to its 12th national title and 11th NCAA Championship in 2010. The Bruins (50-11) went a perfect 10-0 in the postseason, including 5-0 at the Women's College World Series. UCLA set numerous WCWS records, including the most home runs in one tournament with 14. Megan Langenfeld was named the Most Outstanding Player of the WCWS, while Camuso and Harrison each earned All-Tournament honors. Following the season, Inouye-Perez and her staff were honored as the NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year. UCLA set a single-season school record for home runs with 108. Langenfeld and GiOnna DiSalvatore were each named to the NFCA All-American First Team. The Bruins also had three players named to the All-Region Team and eight honored by the Pac-10. In 2009, she led the Bruins to a Pacific-10 Conference Championship, as UCLA went 45-11 overall and 16-5 in league play. She was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year and earned her 100th career victory on Feb. 22 against Maryland. In 2008, the Bruins went 51-9 and advanced to the WCWS, finishing second in the Pac-10 with a 17-4 record. In her first season at the helm of UCLA in 2007, Inouye-Perez posted a 37-18 overall record and a 12-9 Pac-10 mark (T-3rd). Over Inouye-Perez's nine seasons, the Bruins have earned 23 All-American awards, 42 All-Region honors and 66 All-Pac-10/12 accolades. Inouye-Perez, just the third head coach in UCLA softball history, officially took over the reins from Sue Enquist on Jan. 1, 2007. Enquist announced her retirement as head coach on Sept. 26, 2006. No stranger to the Bruin dugout, Inouye-Perez starts her 28th straight season in Westwood in 2016. She is a link to four decades of Bruin softball success, joining the UCLA softball program as a freshman in 1989. Inouye-Perez's time is highlighted by seven NCAA Championships and eight Pac-10 titles in her previous 27 years, spending five campaigns as a player and 13 as an assistant coach. Over Inouye-Perez's 13 seasons (1994-2006) as an assistant coach, UCLA was 617-150-1 (.804) and appeared in the NCAA title game seven times, winning the NCAA Championship in the 1999, 2003 and 2004 seasons. The Bruins also won three Pac-10 titles during that span (1999, 2002, 2006) and in 2004 were named the National Coaching Staff of the Year by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA). Inouye-Perez's primary responsibility as an assistant coach was guiding the Bruin pitchers and catchers, a list which includes many of the most honored and recognizable names in collegiate softball. Behind the dish, where Inouye-Perez also starred as a three-time All-Pac-10 honoree during her playing days at UCLA, she helped mold and influence arguably the best catcher in the history of USA Softball in Stacey Nuveman. Under Inouye-Perez's tutelage, Nuveman became a three-time Pac-10 Player of the Year, four-time, First Team All-American and the NCAA's all-time single-season and career home run leader. Since the Pac-10 Conference began issuing a Pitcher of the Year Award, UCLA has been honored with two winners, Courtney Dale in 1999 and Keira Goerl in 2003. Among the other pitching highlights accomplished by the Bruins over her 13 years as an assistant included at least one All-American award earned by a UCLA pitcher in 12 of those campaigns, including DeeDee Weiman, four-time Olympian Tanya Harding and two-time Olympian Amanda Freed. In addition, nearly every UCLA pitching record has been set during the time Inouye-Perez has overseen the Bruin battery and the top five pitchers on UCLA's career wins list, Goerl, Selden, Carda, Freed and B'Ann Burns, were coached by her. As a player, Inouye-Perez was an exceptionally strong fielder behind the dish for the Bruins. She made her mark immediately as a collegiate player, earning First Team All-Pac-10 as a true freshman and Second Team as a sophomore, leading the Bruins to the 1989 and 1990 NCAA Championships before receiving a medical redshirt in 1991 due to shoulder surgery. She came back strong in 1992, picking up Second Team All-Pac-10 honors as the Bruins once again won the national championship and finished with a 54-2 record, the fewest losses in a season in program history. Inouye-Perez also was named to the 1992 All-Women's College World Series Team, going 5-for-12 (.417) with four RBI during WCWS play. She wrapped up her career as a fifth-year senior in 1993 with an NCAA runner-up finish. Impressively, Inouye-Perez did not commit a single fielding error during her final two seasons. Among the UCLA pitchers during her five seasons as a player were Lisa Longaker and Lisa Fernandez, both of whom were named to the NCAA's 25th Anniversary All-WCWS Team. During her UCLA career, Inouye-Perez played in 22 Women's College World Series games, a mark that is tied for third-best in UCLA history behind only Lisa Fernandez and Kristy Howard (23). Inouye-Perez graduated from UCLA in 1993 with a B.A. in psychology and earned her master's degree in physical education from Azusa Pacific University in 2004. Prior to college, Inouye-Perez was one of the top players during her ASA days, winning four national championships, with the Panthers (1984, '85 and '89) and the Raiders (1986). She also competed on an international level in Japan in 1985 and in Peru in 1987 (Pan American Qualifier) and followed her collegiate career with time playing on the NPF Pro Tour. Inouye-Perez and her husband, Gerardo Perez, currently reside in Cerritos. Along with Kelly's exploits on the diamond, Gerardo competed as a catcher/DH for Cerritos College from 1988-90 and helped lead the Falcons to the 1989 Junior College National Championship. After a stellar career at Cerritos, he went on to compete at Loyola Marymount, earning First Team All-West Coast Conference honors his junior and senior seasons. He currently teaches health and coaches baseball at Gahr High School in Cerritos. The couple has two children, Michael (16) and Kylie (11). Kelly Inouye-Perez's Career Head Coaching Record

Fernandez's second stint as a full-time assistant coach for UCLA (1997-99, 2007-present), also serving as a volunteer assistant from 2000-04. In 17 previous seasons with Fernandez on staff, the Bruins have posted a 792-218-1 (.784) record and have claimed four NCAA Championships in 1999, 2003, 2004 and 2010. UCLA has also won Pac-10 titles in 1999, 2002 and 2009. The program has been honored as the NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year twice in 2004 and 2010 and NFCA Regional CSOY four times in 2000, '10, 2014 and 2015. Arguably the greatest pitcher in softball history, Fernandez has coached eight Bruin hurlers to 15 All-American awards. In November 2013, Fernandez was inducted into the ASA/USA Softball National Hall of Fame, joining Sharron Backus, Gina Vecchione, Sheila Cornell, Dot Richardson and Sue Enquist. A decade prior, she was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003. Fernandez is a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist, having helped Team USA to victories in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. In 1996, Fernandez shined in the United States' 3-1 gold-medal victory over China, recording the final three outs to earn a save. She went 1-1 with a 0.33 ERA in softball's inaugural appearance in the Olympics in Atlanta. In the 2000 Sydney Games, Fernandez pitched the U.S. to victory in both the semifinal win over Australia and the gold-medal game against Japan. She established an Olympic single-game strikeout record with 25 in a round-robin game against Australia and posted a 0.47 earned run average and 52 strikeouts. In 2004, Fernandez was Team USA's top hitter and pitcher, posting a .545 batting average (12-for-22), which set a new record for an Olympic tournament. For the third-consecutive Games, she was also in the circle for the final out of the gold-medal contest, a 5-1 victory over Australia. Fernandez was selected as an alternate to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Away from the U.S. National Team, Fernandez is a member of the ProFastPitch X-treme Tour (PFX). In 1999, Fernandez was named the ASA/USA Softball Female Athlete of the Year. As a pitcher and third baseman, she helped the USA Softball Women's National Team to gold medals at both the Pan American Games and the Canada Cup. She also helped the California Commotion win the ASA Women's Major Fast Pitch championship for the fourth consecutive time. Fernandez played at UCLA from 1990-93 and completed her psychology degree in 1995. A three-time winner of the sport's Honda Award, Fernandez became the first softball player to win the prestigious Honda-Broderick Cup in 1993, given to the most outstanding collegiate female athlete in all sports. A four-time, First Team All-American, Fernandez led the Bruins to two national championships (1990 & 1992) and two runner-up finishes (1991 & 1993). She was also All-Region and All-Pac-10 First Team each season and Pac-10 Player of the Year her final three years. With a miniscule 0.22 earned run average, Fernandez went 93-7 with 784 strikeouts. Her ERA ranks second in NCAA history and her 74 shutouts are tops at UCLA and tied for ninth in the NCAA annals. In her junior and senior seasons, Fernandez had the lowest ERA in the nation (0.14 in 1992, 0.25 in 1993), sporting a perfect 29-0 mark in '92. She tossed 11 career no-hitters, including a pair in the 1993 Women's College World Series, along with two perfect games. She ranks second in UCLA history in ERA, fifth in strikeouts and sixth in wins. Fernandez was just as powerful at the plate, batting .382 with 15 home runs and 128 runs batted in. She hit .401 in her junior season, but eclipsed that mark by more than 100 points in her senior campaign, batting an NCAA-best .510 with 11 homers and 45 RBI. Fernandez ranks in the UCLA Top 10 in numerous offensive categories, including fourth in hits and eighth in average. Fernandez and Mike Lujan, who were married in August 2002, have two sons, Antonio (10) and Cruz (3 on March 23), and reside in Long Beach.

Donyanavard joined the UCLA athletic department as an Academic and Student Services mentor last September and spent the last few months as an Olympic Sports administrative assistant. "We are excited to have Claire join our UCLA softball staff," Inouye-Perez said. "Claire has great energy, work ethic and is excited to assist with all aspects of our program." Donyanavard's softball background comes from her days as a player and coach. She was the assistant softball coach at Occidental College from 2012-2014, also serving as the recruiting coordinator and softball camp director. Her coaching career began in 2011 at Concordia University. As a player, Donyanavard was a four-year letterwinner at Illinois-Chicago (2008-2011) and also played travel ball with So Cal Choppers. In 127 games at UIC, she made 30 starts, posting 31 hits, a home run and 19 runs batted in.