Sierra Vanzant begins her first year with the Royals and will serve as the program’s pitching coach and recruiting coordinator.
Vanzant most recently served as the assistant coach at Belmont Abbey. Over the course of her four years serving as the pitching and catching coach, the team progressed in all areas, earning the most wins in program history in 2022 with 31 wins. Most notably, the team improved their winning percentage from below .500 in her first season to almost .700 in the 2022 season. The squad earned the highest winning percentage in program history three out of her four years serving on staff. Additionally, her pitching staff recorded the second most shut outs in program history, reduced the number of walks by 50%, increased their strikeouts each season, while decreasing their opponents on base percentage. Vanzant’s pitcher, Abby Carver earned first-team all-conference honors and was named “Freshman of the Year.” In the 2021 and 2022 seasons, her pitchers were also named to the “All-Tournament Team.”
Prior to joining the Belmont Abbey staff, Vanzant coached at Wesleyan Christian Academy and served as a head coach in the Lady Blues highly competitive travel ball organization. She also served as a private pitching and catching instructor at the Sanbill Pitching Academy working with Billy “Chief” Gerald.
Vanzant holds a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from High Point University.
She currently resides in Lexington, N.C. with her fiancé Chris Cheek and three dogs, Bella, Diesel, and Malibu.
Kella Goins joined the Queens softball staff as an assistant softball coach in November 2021. Goins joins the Royals after spending the past five seasons as a student-athlete on the Lincoln Memorial Railsplitters softball team.
Goins, a Ramseur, North Carolina native, is a four-time All-SAC First Team member who topped off her career in as the 2021 SAC Player of the Year. She also earned D2CCA All-American honors twice and was recognized on the D2CCA All-Southeast Region and NFCA All-Southeast Region Teams during her playing career. Additionally, Goins was the NCAA II National Statistical Leader in doubles per game in 2019.
Following the completion of her collegiate career, Goins was hired as a graduate assistant with the Railsplitters. She is currently pursuing her MBA at LMU after earning her bachelor’s degree in exercise science.
Bailey Taylor joins Queens' coaching staff in August 2022. She comes from just south of the Carolina border, where she recently graduated from the Clemson University.
Taylor is getting the start to her coaching career under coach Schramm, having played softball at Clemson for the past three seasons. Prior to her time at Clemson, she attended Troy University where she played two seasons.
Among her accomplishments while at Clemson include being a two-time ACC Academic Honor Roll recipient for her efforts in the classroom. She played a crucial role in Clemson's offensive success the past few seasons, and in 2020, hit three grand slams, the last of which helped Clemson become just the seventh program in Division I softball history to record two grand slams in one inning. In that same season, she also led the team in defensive assists with 41.