Coaching Staff

Co-Head Coach Chris Malveaux

Chris Malveaux (mal-VO) was announced as Auburn softball's co-head coach alongside his wife Kate on June 5, 2024.

Both came to Auburn after serving as assistant coaches at the University of Tennessee where they helped the Lady Volunteer program to back-to-back Southeastern Conference regular season titles in 2023 and 2024 and a Women's College World Series appearance in 2023.

Additionally, the two helped Tennessee to 136 wins over the last three seasons, which is tied for the 10th most wins nationally and second most by an SEC team. This past season, Tennessee not only won the SEC regular season title, but posted a 44-12 overall record and made an NCAA Super Regional appearance.

Recognized as one of the top offensive minds in collegiate softball, Chris Malveaux guided six Lady Vols to All-SEC accolades in 2024, including a third straight All-SEC First Team selection for McKenna Gibson, and helped All-American KiKi Milloy rewrite Tennessee's record book to become the program leader in home runs, runs scored and total bases. Three of Tennessee's top five single-season home run totals came under Malveaux.

Returning one of the most powerful lineups in the SEC, Tennessee led the league and ranked sixth nationally with 1.50 home runs per game average in 2024 and closed the season with 84 total, the third most in a single season on Rocky Top.

Returning for a fifth year, KiKi Milloy earned Second Team All-America honors from D1 Softball. Tennessee's all-time leader in home runs (69), runs scored (266) and total bases (534), Milloy started in 53 games in her final season at Tennessee. A mainstay at the top of the lineup, she led the Lady Vols with a .347 batting average and 64 runs scored.

Milloy tied for the team lead in hits (59) and home runs (13), while leading the squad with 12 doubles and two triples. Milloy closed out the year with 24 stolen bases as she finished with 142 for her career – the second-most in Tennessee softball history.

The Lady Vols' offense was potent in 2023 as they averaged 6.87 runs per game – ranking best in the SEC and third nationally. Tennessee pushed across 419 runs during the season - marking the first time UT broke 400 since scoring 426 in 2016. The Lady Vols scored 10+ runs 16 times in 2023 and pushed across five or more runs on 40 occasions.

Senior Milloy set a single-season school record for home runs with 25 – a mark that also led the nation. Sophomore McKenna Gibson had a breakout season as she set career-bests in average (.362), OPS (1.232), runs (36), hits (59), doubles (11), home runs (15), RBIs (60), slugging (.718), walks (39) and on-base percentage (.514). She also recorded multiple RBIs in 14 games and ended the season on a 23-game reached base streak.

Under Malveaux's leadership, Milloy earned NFCA First Team All-America honors, while Gibson took home second team accolades.

In its first year under his guidance, Tennessee boasted the SEC's third-best scoring offense with 140 runs in conference games. The Lady Vols also ranked second in the league in doubles (39), slugging percentage (.540), on-base percentage (.398), and stolen bases (22) in SEC action while finishing third in home runs (38).

Tennessee posted remarkable home run numbers in its first season with Malveaux on staff, totaling 91 long balls for the second-highest single-season total in program history. The Lady Vols averaged 1.54 homers per game, ranking third in the SEC and 12th in the country.

In its preseason list of top 10 assistant coaching hires during the 2021 off season, Extra Inning Softball tabbed Malveaux's hiring as the No. 1 assistant coach addition in the country.

Malveaux, a Houston, Texas, native spent the 2019-21 seasons at Missouri with one year as an assistant coach and two years as an associate head coach. During his three seasons in Columbia, the Missouri offense improved each year – hitting .284 in 2019, .290 in the COVID shortened 2020 season and jumping up to .320 in 2021.

The Tigers' .320 batting average ranked second in the Southeastern Conference in 2021. The Mizzou squad finished the season with 91 home runs, 382 runs scored and 184 extra-base hits.

In 2019, Mizzou's Brooke Wilmes was named to the All-SEC first team, as well as NFCA Second Team All-Southeast Region, in her first year under Malveaux. Freshman Jazmyn Rollin was a Top 25 finalist for the NFCA/Schutt Sports Freshman of the Year that same season.

Prior to joining Missouri, Malveaux was the video coordinator at Kansas in 2018 and served as the associate head coach at Louisiana from 2016-17 – it was his second stay with the Ragin' Cajuns as he was an assistant coach with ULL from 2009-11.

The 2010 Louisiana staff was selected as the NFCA South Region Coaching Staff of the Year after compiling a 45-18 record, making an NCAA Super Regional appearance and earning a No. 16 national ranking. In his five combined seasons at Louisiana, Malveaux was a member of five Sun Belt Conference and Tournament Championships, five NCAA Regionals and two NCAA Super Regional bids.

A 2001 graduate of Texas A&M, Malveaux served as an assistant coach at Bradley from 2012-15 and was the head coach at McNeese State from 2005-08 after being promoted from assistant coach, a title he held at McNeese from 2002-04.

Co-Head Coach Kate Malveaux

Kate Malveaux (mal-VO) was announced as Auburn softball's co-head coach alongside her husband Chris on June 5, 2024.

Kate Malveaux was on staff at Tennessee for three seasons and was elevated to an assistant coach ahead of the 2024 season where she worked with the Lady Vols' catchers and baserunners. Last season, she helped lead first-year Lady Vol catcher Sophia Nugent to All-SEC honors. Tennessee catchers committed just a pair of errors in 2024. The Lady Vols stole 50 bases in each of the past three seasons under Malveaux. Since her arrival in 2022, Tennessee has ranked among the top five in the SEC in stolen bases per game.

Malveaux joined Tennessee's staff in June of 2021 and a year ago was elevated to a full-time assistant coach position after serving the 2022 and 2023 seasons as a volunteer assistant.

In her first full season as an assistant coach, Malveaux continued her work with base running and the Lady Vols catchers. Tennessee's catchers committed just two errors over the course of the 2024 season and threw out five base runners.

A first-year Lady Vol, Sophia Nugent earned All-SEC honors with her efforts behind the dish and at the plate. Nugent totaled 42 hits, including eight doubles and 11 home runs with 38 RBI. Starting 52 games, Nugent held a .933 fielding percentage and threw out four base runners.

For the third straight season, Tennessee finished in the top five in the SEC in stolen bases per game, as the Lady Vols averaged 0.96 per game. Tennessee finished fifth in the league with 54 total stolen bases.

Over her two seasons as a volunteer assistant, the Lady Vols won 92 games and in 2023 won the SEC regular-season and tournament titles – sweeping both crowns in the same season for the first time in program history.

In 2023, Tennessee secured its first 50-win season and reached the national semifinals at the Women's College World Series for the first time since 2013. The trip to the WCWS was its first since 2015 and its eighth all-time. Primarily focused on Tennessee's catchers, Malveaux helped Giulia Koutsoyanopulos transition from the outfield to playing behind the plate in 2023. Before coming to Knoxville, Koutsoyanopulos had never been a catcher but moved into the role and started 59 games for UT.

Also working with the baserunners, the Lady Vols stole 50 bases in each of the past three seasons. Since Malveaux's arrival, Tennessee has ranked among the top five in the SEC in stolen bases per game. UT was second in 2022 with an average of 1.49, fourth in 2023 at 1.43 and fifth in 2024 at 0.96.

Malveaux—formerly Kate Singler—was a member of the Missouri softball staff for the 2020 and 2021 seasons as its director of operations.

A standout softball player at Bradley, Malveaux served as a volunteer assistant coach for the Braves in 2012. As a student-athlete, she was a second-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection and a first-team MVC Scholar-Athlete. She also earned First-Team Capital One Academic All-District V honors as a senior.

In back-to-back years as a junior and senior, she led Bradley in RBIs, becoming just the fifth player in program history to do so.

Assistant Coach Ryker Chason

Co-head coaches Chris and Kate Malveaux announced the addition of Ryker Chason as an assistant coach on June 10.

Chason joins the Tigers after spending the last 10 months as director of pitching growth for OGX Softball in Romeoville, Illinois. The company specializes in using data and human performance science to develop individualized, science-backed programs to elevate softball training and performance.

Prior to his stop at OGX, Chason spent three seasons on staff at Ole Miss from 2021 to 2023, helping the Rebels’ pitching staff to a 2.91 ERA in his final season.

The 2023 season also saw the Rebel pitching staff combine for nine shutouts. Ole Miss was anchored by sophomore hurler Catelyn Riley, who earned five ranked victories in the circle. Chason’s staff also went 24.1 straight scoreless innings at the Ole Miss Classic in March of that season.

In his second season at Ole Miss, Chason helped Riley burst onto the scene with a team leading 12 wins, the second most by an Ole Miss freshman in program history. As a staff, Chason guided the Rebels to their first no-hitter since March 2014 as Savannah Diederich, Brooke Vestal and Landyn Bruce combined to stifle Tennessee State. Ole Miss also tallied 13 shutouts in 2022, tied for third in the SEC, and posted a 3.34 team ERA.

Chason’s debut season in Oxford saw the Rebel staff hold opponents to three earned runs or less in 42 of 58 contests. The season saw two of the most notable pitching performances ever seen in Oxford, with Anna Borgen setting the school record with a streak of 35-straight scoreless innings and Diederich tying the school record with 15 strikeouts in a 3-0 victory over Indiana State.

Chason joined Ole Miss from fellow SEC program, LSU, where he spent four seasons as a student coach on the Tiger staff. Chason assisted LSU head coach Beth Torina with pitching charts and pitch calls. During his three completed seasons with LSU, Chason worked with seven NFCA All-Americans, including four at the pitcher position.

With Chason on staff, LSU put together a successful four-year run, racking up 157 total wins, including 39 in SEC play. The Tigers continued their success in postseason play, winning a NCAA Regional Championship and advancing to Super Regionals in all three completed seasons, including a trip to the 2017 Women’s College World Series.

In addition to his work at LSU, Chason served as pitching coach for the nationally renowned Georgia Impact Premier Club in Atlanta for four years, being responsible for scouting. With Chason at the helm of the pitching staff, Georgia Impact captured the 2018 PGF National Championship and finished as the PGF National Runner Up in 2019.

Prior to making the move to Baton Rouge, Chason was an assistant coach at South Georgia State College for the 2016 season. During his stint in Douglas, Georgia, Chason helped the Hawks to a program best runner-up finish in the conference tournament and was responsible for the organization and implementation of the program’s camps.

Chason was also a premier athlete in men’s fastpitch softball with the United States Junior Men’s National Team. He twice competed for Team USA at the WBSC Junior Men’s World Championship in 2014 and 2016.

A native of Grand Ridge, Florida, Chason holds a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from LSU.

Assistant Coach DJ Sanders

Co-head coaches Chris and Kate Malveaux announced DJ Sanders, one of the rising stars in collegiate coaching, as an assistant coach on June 16, 2024.

Sanders joins Auburn after spending last season as an assistant coach at Ole Miss where she worked with the Rebel offense. Sanders also had coaching stints with Memphis, Mississippi State and Missouri while bringing a wealth of playing knowledge both at the collegiate and professional levels.

In her lone season with the Rebels, Sanders help Ole Miss to 31 wins and an eighth straight NCAA Regional appearance. She guided Aynslie Furbush to 2024 All-SEC honors as Furbush turned in the best offensive season of her career. She tallied 49 hits and finished second on the team with a .325 batting average while ranking 13th in the SEC with 44 RBI.

Furbush added NFCA All-South Region honors alongside Jalia Lassiter. A two-time NFCA All-Region selection, Lassiter finished second on the team with 61 hits in 2024 and was key to the Ole Miss offense with 34 runs scored and 29 RBI. Lassiter was just the fourth Rebel in program history to earn multiple all-region accolades.

Sanders joined Ole Miss after serving as an assistant coach at Memphis. At the helm of the offense, she worked primarily as the hitting coach and lead scouting of opposing pitchers. Sanders also worked with the outfielders in her one season with the Tigers.

Prior to her stop in Memphis, Sanders spent one season at Mississippi State and was part of the program’s historic run to the NCAA Super Regional in 2022. She helped assist the Bulldog offense as a hitting instructor and led the scouting of opposing pitchers. With Sanders' guidance, Mississippi State broke the single-season record in home runs and turned in top-five marks in program history in both runs (312) and RBI (282).

Sanders got her start in coaching as a graduate assistant in 2020 at Missouri, helping the Tigers to a 61-24 record in her two seasons.

Collegiately, Sanders played her first three seasons as the starting shortstop at Louisiana. As a junior, Sanders led the NCAA in home runs (29), RBI (82) and slugging percentage (1.013) en route to earning NFCA First Team All-American honors and being named one of 10 finalists for the USA Softball National Player of the Year award.

She also played for the USA Softball Junior National Team at the World Cup of Softball and Junior Women's World Championships in 2015.

For her senior year, she transferred to Oregon and earned All-Pac-12 honors in 2018. In her lone season in Eugene, she helped lead the Ducks to a Pac-12 Championship while blasting 16 homers and collecting 51 RBI.

After graduation, Sanders was drafted No. 21 overall by the Chicago Bandits in the 2018 NPF Draft. She made her professional debut with NPF on June 16, 2018, and recorded her first career hit the next day. In her rookie season, Sanders batted .306 and ranked third on her squad in home runs.

Sanders also played professionally with Athletes Unlimited the last four seasons. The Columbus, Mississippi, native totaled 987 points through seven games in 2023. She competed in the AUX exhibition season in 2022, totaling 808 points in eight games with a .500 batting average. The previous year she tallied 1,352 points and finished 15th overall in the league, slugging a pair of homers and collecting five RBI in 11 games. In the summer of 2020, Sanders finished 14th individually in the inaugural AU season with 1,520 points and batted .333 with four homers over 14 games.

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