Carisa Millsap-Kalaba

Entering her fourth year as Utah State's head coach, Carissa Kalaba (Cal-uh-ba) is optimistic that the 2013 season will be a sign of things to come as USU returns eight starters and and 14 letterwinners from last year's team that went 17-36 overall, including a 4-17 Western Athletic Conference mark to finish eighth in the league standings. Highlighting those eight returning starters is senior infielder Christine Thomsen and sophomore outfielder Hailey Froton who were both named to the league's 2013 preseason all-WAC team.

During the 2012 campaign, Kalaba coached just the seventh All-American in school history in Thomsen, who was one of 31 players nationally to be named an Easton All-American, including one of 16 players on the second-team. Thomsen, who also earned first-team all-WAC honors as a junior, finished the season tying for first in the WAC and 26th in the nation with a .418 batting average, which ranks second all-time in school history.

Kalaba also coached USU's career saves leader in 2012 as junior Shelbi Tyteca recorded a school-record five saves during the season to give her nine career saves, which ranks first all-time in school history.

Along with its success on the field, Utah State also excelled in the classroom under Kalaba in 2012 as five Aggies earned academic all-WAC honors.

In 2011, Utah State posted a 15-42 overall record, but went 8-13 in WAC play and qualified for the WAC Tournament for just the second time in its six years in the league as it finished fifth overall. Those eight league wins were USU's most since the 2002 season when it was a member of the Big West Conference, while its fifth-place finish was its best since tying for fourth in the Big West in 1996. On the field, Utah State finished the year with 66 doubles to rank third all-time in school history for a single-season.

Utah State also had three players earn second-team all-WAC honors in 2011 in Tina Ferguson (C), Allison Lenzora (SS) and Kassandra Uchida (UT). Utah State also had 10 players earn academic all-conference honors, including Shasta Tyteca, who garnered first-team academic all-district honors.

During her first season at Utah State in 2010, the Aggies posted a 20-30 record for its most wins in six years. USU also hit .274 that season to rank tied for the fourth-best hitting percentage in school history. Utah State also set a single-season school record with 34 home runs in 2010, while its 200 runs batted in ranked second all-time at USU and its 217 runs scored ranked third all-time. On the mound, Aggie pitchers combined for a 4.92 earned run average to rank as USU's second-best ERA in eight years. Academically, USU had eight players earn all-conference honors in Kalaba's first year at USU, while Nicole Rupp-Tindall earned first-team all-WAC honors as an outfielder.

The former Carissa Millsap is married to Joe Kalaba.

Chelsea Butler is in her first season as an assistant coach at Utah State and will work primarily with USU's pitchers. Butler comes to USU after spending the 2012 season as an assistant at Eastern Kentucky for head coach Jane Worthington who is a two-year Utah State letterwinner (1981-82) and was a member of the 1981 USU National Championship softball team. As an assistant at EKU in 2012, Butler helped the Colonels to a 27-30 record including a 16-13 conference mark. At EKU, she worked with the pitchers, as well as handling recruiting efforts.

Before her coaching days, Butler pitched two years (2008-09) for Eastern Kentucky, highlighted by a standout senior season where she posted a 2.32 ERA to go along with seven wins.

Prior to arriving at Eastern Kentucky, Butler played two seasons at Golden West Junior College. As a sophomore, she posted a 21-13 record with a 1.35 ERA, striking out 170 batters in 231.2 innings of work. She earned first team all-conference recognition and was an all-tournament selection.

Butler earned a degree in sociology in 2009. Prior to her return to EKU, Butler served as an assistant coach with the USA Athletics 18 gold team in southern California and has been giving pitching lessons. At EKU, she worked directly with pitchers, as well as handling recruiting efforts.

Britne Stubbs is in her first seasons as an assistant coach at Utah State and will work with the Aggie outfielders, along with hitting. Prior to joining the USU coaching staff, Stubbs spent the past five years (2008-12) as the head softball coach and Senior Woman Administrator at Brevard College in North Carolina.

During the 2012 season, Stubbs led the Tornadoes to a 24-24 record and a sixth-place finish in the South Atlantic Conference with a 9-9 mark. Overall, Stubbs posted a 102-125 (.449) record during her five seasons as Brevard College's head coach as the Tornadoes improved their win total each season.

Stubbs began her collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio. During her two years at Tiffin, she helped the Dragons to a 94-22 (.810) record and two American Mid-West Conference Championships, two Region IX Championships and two NCAA Division II National Tournament appearances. While at Tiffin, she helped tutor five All-Americans, six all-region performers and seven all-conference players, along with being a member of the 2006 Region IX Coaching Staff of the Year.

A native of Bennettsville, S.C., Stubbs played college softball at Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina, where she was a three-time first-team all-Caroinas-Virgina Athletic Conference honoree and her team's Most Valuable Offensive Player as a sophomore, junior and senior.

Along with earning a bachelor's degree from Queens University of Charlotte, Stubbs also earned her master's degree in business administration from Tiffin University.