Emilia Ward Tabbed as Women's Lacrosse Assistant Coach
7/9/2019 9:57:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
MILWAUKEE - Marquette University women's lacrosse head coach Meredith Black has tabbed Emilia Ward as her new assistant coach, she announced Wednesday. Ward joins associate head coach Caitlin Fifield and director of lacrosse operations Madison Hoover to round out the staff.
Ward comes to MU after leading Northern Michigan's women's lacrosse program for the past four years. She arrived at NMU in 2015 and had one year to start the program from scratch, leading the team into its first varsity competition in 2016-17. Before her time as a Wildcat, Ward also spent time as the head coach of the Pfeiffer University (N.C.), Kalamazoo College (Mich.) and Alderson Broaddus University (W.V.) women's lacrosse programs.
Coach Black believes that Ward's experiences as a head coach and a recruiter will be extremely beneficial to her program as she continues to ascend MU women's lacrosse to new heights.
"I am so excited for the addition of Emilia to our program," Black said. "She brings a ton of coaching experience from various different schools and levels of the game. She will be able to help our team to new heights with some fresh ideas and unique ways of doing things. She's extremely passionate about the game and can jump right into this program with a wealth of knowledge. We are excited to welcome her into the Marquette Lacrosse family."
Ward began her career as an assistant coach at Division III Adrian College (Mich.) in 2008. In her three years as a member of the staff, she helped the team to a 40-12 overall record and brought in three consecutive recruiting classes of at least nine players from 2009-11. She coached 10 all-region and nine all-conference players in her three seasons there and helped Adrian to the Division III NCAA Tournament in 2011.
She spent the 2011-12 season as an assistant coach at Winthrop University before landing her first head coaching job at Alderson Broaddus, where she recruited and developed the first varsity team in school history as they entered the Division II level.
Her success in building the ABU program led her to her next opportunity as the head coach at Kalamazoo College, where she guided the program into its inaugural season in 2013-14. In two years at Kalamazoo, Ward's teams garnered IWLCA Team Academic Honor Roll honors and she had 14 players earn All-MIAA Academic honors.
Before joining the Golden Eagles, Ward reigned over the Northern Michigan women's lacrosse program, leading the team into its inaugural season at the Division II level in 2016-17. After winning just two games in each of her first two seasons on the job, Ward guided the Wildcats to four wins in 2018-19 on the way to their first GLIAC Tournament bid in school history. All three of her teams made the IWLCA Team Academic Honor Roll and 14 of her players made the GLIAC Academic Select Team (3.5 GPA or above).
Ward now looks forward to helping Coach Black and company take the program to the next level, both in the BIG EAST and nationally.
"I'm honored to join Coach Black's staff at MU," Ward said. "From the second I stepped on campus, I felt right at home. The enthusiasm for the program from the athletic department is something that really excites me."
Keep up with the Marquette women's lacrosse program through social media by following on Twitter (@MarquetteWLax) and Instagram (@MarquetteWLax) and 'liking' on Facebook (/MarquetteWLax).