Cassie Vondrak begins her first season as an assistant coach on the Elon Softball staff. Vondrak will work with the Phoenix pitchers after serving as the pitching coach at Columbia the past five seasons.
At Columbia, Vondrak helped the Lions to their first back-to-back winning seasons in 2018 and 2019 including the program's first berth to the Ivy League postseason tournament. She also helped coach a pair of All-Ivy League selections in 2017 and 2019.
Prior to Columbia, Vondrak was hired as the assistant at NYU in August of 2014, where she was primarily responsible for recruiting efforts and working with the Violets’ pitching staff.
A 2013 graduate of Long Island University-Brooklyn with a Bachelor of Science degree in health science, Vondrak was a three-year member of the Blackbirds' softball program. She spent two years as an undergraduate on the squad and one as a graduate student, earning a Master of Exercise Science in fitness for special populations from LIU-Brooklyn in 2014.
Vondrak pitched in three Northeast Conference (NEC) title games for the Blackbirds, helping the squad to the 2012 NEC Championship and earning Tournament MVP honors in the process. A three-time All-NEC Tournament team selection on the field, Vondrak also shined in the classroom where she was a member of the Dean's List, NEC Athletic Academic Honor Roll and the Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society.
Before attending LIU-Brooklyn, Vondrak earned an Associate of Arts degree from Western Nevada College in 2011. While there, she was a two-year member of the Wildcats' softball team where she redshirted as a freshman and pitched for the squad as a sophomore.
Prior to her time coaching at NYU, Vondrak helped work at a Harlem RBI Real Kids summer leader with AmeriCorps. While there, she helped build lesson plans designed to help youths build teamwork, conflict resolution and self-esteem. Vondrak also organized and coached the baseball and softball teams for elementary school-aged participants.
Vondrak also spent time as a softball coach for the Greenwich Village Little League, focusing on all aspects of softball. She instructed pitching lessons, organized and ran practices, evaluated teams and opponents, and managed and motivated players during games.
Other experience for Vondrak includes volunteer work with the Special Olympics softball competition in New York where she assisted in several areas, such as scorekeeping, escorting athletes and presenting awards.
