PRESS RELEASE

Northern State University Director of Athletics Nate Davis had announced the addition of Kaley Ness as the 12th head coach in program history for the Wolves softball program. Ness joins NSU after spending the last nine seasons, including seven as the head coach, at Chadron State College.

“We are excited to have Kaley join the Wolves and the Aberdeen community as our head softball coach,” noted Davis. “She is an experienced head coach with playing and coaching experience at the Division II level and we feel like her coaching style will be a great fit for our program.”

“I am extremely excited and honored to be taking over the program as the head softball coach at Northern State University,” explained Ness. “I want to thank President Schnoor, Nate Davis, Ashley Gauer, and the rest of the NSU athletic department for this opportunity. After visiting campus and seeing the well-established culture and excitement for the future, it was clear that this is where I wanted to be. I look forward to working with a great group of student-athletes and be involved in an amazing community.”

Ness took over the helm of the Eagles program in the spring of 2018, following two seasons as the assistant coach. The Mankato, Minnesota native posted one of the best seasons in program history in the spring of 2023. The Eagles went 27-26 overall and 25-19 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, reaching the conference tournament for the first time since the spring of 2019.

Davis added, “Throughout the process, we kept hearing consistent themes about Kaley and her ability to recruit, give her student-athletes a tremendous collegiate experience, develop them to be successful. Kaley and her husband Brian, and their young family will make outstanding additions to our community.”

In her nine seasons at CSC, Ness has coached 28 all-conference student-athletes, including an RMAC Pitcher of the Year and Co-Freshman of the Year. The spring of 2019 brought the program’s first All-American award winner. In addition, the Eagles tallied 63 RMAC All-Academic recipients, two RMAC Softball Summit Award winners, three RMAC Gold Glove honorees, and NFCA Easton All-Academic recognition under Ness’ leadership. A total of 19 single season and 17 career records were broken, the Eagles advanced to four RMAC Tournaments, and landed on the NCAA South Central Regional Rankings in her CSC tenure.

Ness earned a Bachelor of Art in Exercise Science from Southwest Minnesota State University in 2015 and a Master of Science in Sports Management from Chadron State in 2017. As a student-athlete with the Mustangs, Ness started 107 of 133 games played, capping off her career with a .336 average as a senior.

Ness and her husband Brian have three children, Hadlee, Harper, and Hudson.