Stephanie Sanders - Assistant Coach - Staff Directory - University of Tennessee Athletics

Staff Directory

Stephanie Sanders

Title:
Assistant Coach
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Stephanie Sanders joined the Tennessee softball program as an assistant coach in June of 2024.

In her first season on Rocky Top, the Lady Vols returned to the Women's College World Series, advancing to the national semifinals after recording wins over Florida and UCLA. As the secondary hitting coach, UT slashed .302/.511/.404 as a team with 79 doubles, 19 triples and 73 home runs on the year. It marked the first time Tennessee hit over .300 for the year since 2021, and the 19 triples tied the program record.

Several Lady Vols had career seasons at the plate in 2025, including outfielder Kinsey Fiedler, who tied the single-season triples record with eight. Catcher Sophia Nugent also thrived as she hit .298 with 25 runs, 51 hits, nine doubles, 18 home runs and 61 RBIs during her final collegiate season. Her 18 home runs are tied for the fourth-most in a single season in program history.

Sanders previously served at Penn State during the 2021 and 2022 seasons. With the Nittany Lions, Sanders worked as the program's recruiting coordinator, while also coaching the outfielders and catchers.

Sanders came to Happy Valley after spending two seasons (2019-20) as an assistant at Miami (Ohio). With the RedHawks, she was in charge of coaching the outfielders and the hitters.

In a shortened 2020 season, Miami was picked to finish first in the regular season and to win the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Tournament.

In 2019, Sanders helped Miami capture its first MAC regular season championship in program history with a 35-16 overall record and 16-4 mark in conference play. The 16 conference wins tied the most MAC wins in Miami history. The RedHawks also had the highest conference win percentage in program history while putting together the longest conference win streak – winning 10-straight MAC games en route to the crown.

Prior to Miami, Sanders spent two seasons at Villanova as an assistant coach. She coached the outfielders and assisted with hitting during her time in Philadelphia. Sanders helped lead the Wildcats to an overall record of 62-44-2 and a conference record of 23-16 in her two-year stint. She spent one season after graduation as the outfield and hitting coach at Saginaw Valley State and assisted with camps, clinics, strength and conditioning and recruiting.

As a student-athlete, Sanders was a four-year letter winner at Michigan State. She appeared in 177 career games, primarily as a utility player, mostly playing outfield. During her senior season in 2015, Sanders posted a .288 batting average, scored 25 runs, totaled 44 hits with 32 RBI and had 16 extra-base hits with seven doubles and nine home runs – all career highs. Her nine home runs tied for the 11th-most in a single season at Michigan State and she ranked second for the Spartans in multi-hit games (15) and multi-RBI games (8).

Sanders, a Lima, Ohio native, earned a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Michigan State in 2015. She married Craig Snider in June 2024.