Coaching Staff

Ali Nowak joined the Winona State University softball coaching staff in August, 2022.  In June of 2023, Nowak was elevated to the full-time assistant coaching role with the program, taking over for long-time assistant coach Chad Tuescher.

Prior to returning to Winona State, Nowak was a member of the St. Cloud State softball coaching staff for the 2021-22 academic year.

Nowak built a standout playing career at Winona State between 2017 and 2021, earning NFCA and D2CCA All-American honors on two occasions. Playing both behind the plate and as the designated player, Nowak was one of the most impactful players on some of the best teams to during her five-year Warrior career.

Nowak earned All-America, All-Region and All-Conference nods multiple times from 2017 to 2021, and ranks top-10 all-time in several statistical categories. Upon graduation in 2021, Nowak is second all-time in the Warrior record book in both career batting average (.417) and career fielding percentage (.995). The New Berlin, Wis. product is also third all-time in career walks (90), fifth career RBIs (175) and doubles (56) and seventh in career hits (251).

Nowak's resume includes CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-America honors (2019, 2020) and she was the NSIC Winona State Female Scholar Athlete of the Year award in both 2020 and 2021. She was voted Winona State's Female Student-Athlete of the Year in 2019

Cyndy Jones
Assistant Coach

One of the best pitchers in program history, Cyndy Jones rejoined the Winona State coaching ranks in 2011 and works with the Warrior pitching staff. She previously served as an assistant coach for the Warriors from 2002-08. In those nine years Jones helped lead the Warriors to three NSIC Championships.

Cyndy (Schubbe) Jones is one of the most decorated players in Winona State history. She was the NSIC Pitcher of the Year in both 2001 and 2002 while being named to the all-conference team three consecutive years from 2000 to 2002. She was an all-region selection in 2002. Jones earned NSIC Tournament Most Outstanding Pitcher honors as a freshman in 1999 after leading the Warriors to the conference tournament title.

Jones was inducted into the Winona State Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012 and to the NSIC Hall of Fame in 2018.

The list of pitchers who have excelled under Jones is impressive. On six different occasions, WSU pitchers have earned All-American honors with Jones as their coach; McKenna Larsen in 2017, McKenna Larsen and Jordyn Kleman in 2018, Jordyn Kleman and Liz Pautz in 2019 and Liz Pautz again, most recently, in 2022. Pautz also pitched just the third perfect game in program history in 2022.

With Jones at the pitching instruction helm, WSU has thrown 27 no-hitters overall, all but three of the 30 ever recorded.  Liz Pautz was the NCAA Statistical Champion in total strikeouts in both 2019 and 2022 under Jones. Nine of the top ten all-time wins leaders came with Jones as their coach; the 10th was Jones herself.

As a member of the coaching staff, Jones helped Winona State win the first NSIC Championship in program history in 2003. The Warriors went on to win the league crown in 2005 and 2007, and again in 2018 and 2019. Jones has tutored numerous All-Conference award winners, while seeing Stephanie Fritch (2003) and Kristen Fossell (2008) named the NSIC Tournament Most Outstanding Pitcher in past season.

Jones led a pitching staff in 2012 that posted a 1.97 ERA, led by All-American Stacey Struzynski. Struzynski went 24-8 on the year with a 1.16 ERA. Three different pitchers won at least seven games on the season. Struzynski was named the NSIC and Central Region’s Pitcher of the Year under Jones’ tutelage.

Strong pitching from sophomore Ashley Walker helped lead the Warriors to the NCAA Super Regional in 2013. Walker went 20-4 with a 2.87 ERA on the season and threw complete games against ranked opponents Southeastern Oklahoma State and Minnesota State to help the Warriors reach Super Regional action. Walker ended the season as an all-region selection.

In 2015, Jones coached junior pitcher Hanna Lythberg to Central Region First Team accolades from both the AFCA and Daktronics as well as all-NSIC First Team accolades. Lythberg went 23-8 with a 1.46 ERA on the season and threw four complete game shutouts while striking out 160 batters. In 2016, Lythberg threw two no-hitters.

Jones' 2017 pitching staff fired four no-hitters with Jordyn Kleman and McKenna Larsen in the circle. Those two helped lead the Warriors to the NCAA Super Regional that season and in 2018 guided the Warriors to the NSIC regular season and postseason titles as Winona State hosted the NCAA Central Regional as the No. 1-seed. Both Kleman and Larsen earned All-American honors in 2018.

Kleman was named the NSIC Pitcher of the Year in back-to-back seasons (2018 & 2019) and the D2CCA Central Region Pitcher of the Year in 2019. By her side was NSIC Newcomer of the Year, Liz Pautz, as the duo both earned 2019 All-American honors while helping lead WSU to another NCAA Regional appearance. The tandem of Kleman and Pautz also helped the Warriors amass a staggering 31-game winning streak in 2019 which included a perfect 30-0 NSIC record for back-to-back regular season crowns.

A Magna Cum Laude graduate, Jones was named the Winona State Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2002. She graduated with a degree in nursing in 2002, a Master’s Degree in Nursing in 2010, and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in 2016, all from Winona State University. In addition to her coaching duties, Jones is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing at Winona State.

Jones lives in Winona with her husband, Greg, and their two children, Carson and Piper.