Radford University Athletics

Since being announced as the first-ever head coach of the Radford women’s lacrosse program in October 2014, Haley Hardy has brought in incredible student-athletes that have experienced success both on and off the field.

Hardy is no stranger to the process of building a lacrosse program and promoting the emerging sport of women’s lacrosse with experience as a head coach and as a student-athlete. After she laid the groundwork with the hiring of assistant coach Julia Heaps, the recruiting of the program’s first class, and the countless hours of practice and film study, the Highlanders began competition in the Big South Conference in the spring of 2016.

Since she has been at the helm of this program, Hardy has coached nine Big South All-Conference selections as well as five All-Academic honorees including 2020 Scholar-Athlete Brittany Rinaldi (the program's first). Coach Hardy has had a total of eight student-athletes win conference weekly awards including six garnering Freshman of the Week honors. The Highlanders have had 11 student-athletes recognized by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association and named an IWLCA Academic Squad in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. 

Prior to the 2020 season being canceled due to COVID-19, Radford was beginning to find their footing coming off a very successful spring break trip up North. The Highlanders were 2-0 against Hartford and Central Connecticut State, with one game remaining on the trip against Iona. Radford commenced the 2020 campaign with a trip to Loretto, Pa. to face Saint Francis (Pa.), to begin the season 1-0 for the third consecutive year as well as improve to three consecutive wins against the Red Flash. Maddie Bowman set a new program record for saves in a game at 20 against La Salle. Brittany Rinaldi made program history as the first Big South Conference Scholar-Athlete, while being named to the All-Academic Team and VaSID Academic All-State. Katie Bendrick also made history as she was named to the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) First Team. This is the third season in a row that a Highlander as made the VaSID All-State Team and Bendrick's second consecutive selection. 
 

The Highlanders notched several wins in the 2019 season, a including a pair of Big South Conference victories as well as the season opener versus Saint Francis (Pa.). Radford's 25-3 trouncing of Presbyterian had at 15 different Highlanders score at least one goal in the game. Radford's biggest win before Wednesday came on March 4, 2017 when it defeated Delaware State 24-6 at Cupp Stadium. The Highlanders either set new school records or tied school records in points (36), goals scored (25), fewest goals scored by an opponent (3) and as mentioned before, largest margin of victory (22). Both Juliette Ruland and Adrian Rius reached major milestones in their collegiate careers against Presbyterian. At the 20:34 mark of the first half, Ruland scored her 100^th career goal and at the 19:42 mark of the second half, Rius recorded her 300^thcareer draw control. Five Highlanders earned spots on the 2019 Big South All-Conference teams with Emma Rogers and Katie Bendrick earning First Team honors, Adrian Rius and Callie Bonnel receiving honorable mention status, and Brittany Rinaldi making the All-Academic Team. For the second consecutive season Radford placed a student-athlete on the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) All-State list, with Bendrick earning Second Team All-State honors. 
 

The 2018 season - the program’s third year of competition - was full of milestone achievements for both the team and for individual players. The Highlanders set program records with three conference wins and four away wins while reaching the Big South Tournament for a second consecutive year.

Callie Bonnel became the second player in school history to earn All-Big South First Team honors while Juliette Ruland garnered Second Team considerations and Jenny Davis made the All-Academic Team. Bonnel and teammate Adrian Rius combined to set several school and Big South records in their junior seasons.

In just their second season of competition, the Highlanders had five more wins than in their inaugural year. Radford had two signature victories in year two beginning with its first conference win over Gardner-Webb. The Highlanders also picked up an 18-6 win over Presbyterian on April 15, 2017. It was the program’s first road win and first conference road win.

The two conference wins led the Highlanders to a spot in the 2017 Big South Lacrosse Tournament. It was the programs first spot in any postseason tournament and first appearance in the quarterfinals.

The year of firsts continued for Hardy and company as she had three players land postseason Big South honors. Emma Rogers was named First Team All-Conference and Callie Bonnel and Lindsey Carroll were named Second Team All-Conference.

Hardy came to Radford from Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky., where she was the only coach the Pioneers had in two seasons of competition. In those two seasons against more established programs, Marvine led the Pioneers to a 12-13 overall record, including a 7-7 mark in 2014.

As a Big East Conference All-Academic student-athlete at the University of Cincinnati, Hardy was a four-year member of the first Bearcats lacrosse team, where she was a standout goalkeeper and team captain. She earned a degree in sports management from Cincinnati in 2011.

A native of Alpharetta, Ga., Marvine’s coaching experience also includes several elite camps, including the Nike Cup Syracuse Camp and high-profile on-campus camps at Notre Dame, Duke, and Georgia Tech. She also coached at the club level in the Cincinnati metropolitan area for Natilax helping grow the sport in middle and high schools.

“I am excited to get back to the Division I level. It’s where I played collegiately and where I feel most at home,” Marvine said. “Having started the program at Transylvania at the Division III level, I am thrilled with the opportunity to start up another program, but this time at the Division I level at Radford with the resources available to a Division I program.”

“It’s all about recruiting,” Marvine said about the challenge of starting a program. “That’s a big part of any coach’s job, but when you are establishing a program, you are recruiting a little differently because you are getting players that are going to all play right away. I went through that at Cincinnati as a prospective student-athlete, so I can relate to the young women we are going to recruit in the beginning at RU. You also have to surround yourself with good people, so my first job is to put together a staff that can bring the best student-athletes possible to Radford.”