Kristi Villar joined the Santa Clara University softball program in July, 2022 as an assistant coach, coming from South Dakota State.
In her first season on the Mission Campus in 2023, the offensive numbers jumped across the board including a slash line of .280/.378/.384, up dramatically from the previous year's numbers of .263/.329/.345. The Broncos scored 62 more runs and hit 2.5 times (21 home runs in 2023 compared to eight in 2022) more home runs playing in two less games. Five SCU players garnered All-West Coast Conference honors including Ashley Trierweiler who finished second nationally with a .486 batting average to earn All-America honors by D1Softball and NFCA.
In 2024, the team hit eight more home runs (29) than the previous season and Hazyl Gray was named WCC Player of the Year, starring as a two-way player. Despite losing four All-WCC position players from the year before, a couple of upperclassmen had career-best years offensively to fill the void to help the Broncos to a program record-tying 30 win season.
Villar served as a highly productive hitting coach in her five years at South Dakota State. In those five seasons, the Jackrabbits finished atop the Summit League in: batting average, doubles per game and slugging percentage three times; on-base percentage and scoring four times; and home runs per game twice.
The 2021 team hit a program record 73 home runs, followed by 71 in 2022 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament both seasons. Villar helped the Jackrabbits reach the post season in each of the non-COVID seasons, having qualified for the National Softball Invitational Championship in 2018 and 2019.
Prior to her stint at South Dakota State, the Oakdale, Minnesota native was the head coach at Northern State for seven seasons. Villar won 160 games, including four 20 win seasons to build a program that had previously never won more than 20 games before her arrival. In 2015, she won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Coach of the Year honors.
In the classroom, Villar helped improve the team's academic performance, raising the team grade point average by a full point to a 3.8 in 2016-17 over her seven years.
The former standout shortstop at Augustana College broke into the college coaching ranks as a graduate assistant at Southwest Minnesota State. The Mustangs won consecutive NSIC championships and she worked with one All-American, three All-Region players and seven All-NSIC picks.
At Augustana College, Villar earned All-North Central Conference honors four times and led the team in hitting as a junior and senior. An NCC Freshman of the Year in 2003, she was a two-time All-Region performer. In her senior seaon, she led the team to the NCC Conference Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth.
Villar earned her bachelor of arts in mathematics from Augustana in 2006, and a master's degree in educational leadership from SMSU in 2010.
