River Hawks Ready to Dive into 2025 Campaign

2/5/2025 2:51:00 PM

Starek

The UMass Lowell softball team is set to begin its 2025 season this week. Head Coach Jen Starek will enter her fourth year with the program.

It’s a really exciting year. We finished well last year in the conference tournament, but we have a reallyyoung team mixed with some veteran experience, so it’s exciting. I think we will play a little bit of a different style than we have in the past.

Head Coach Jen Starek

Quintanilla

In the 2024 season, the River Hawks posted a 17-29 overall finish and went 8-11 in America East Conference play. UMass Lowell had a great run in the AE playoffs, making an appearance in the AE Championship game, but falling to No. 1 UAlbany, 4-0.

Isabel Quintanilla (Puyallup, Wash.) will return for her sophomore season, as she led the River Hawks in 2024 in home runs with five, also contributing with 17 RBI.

Sophomore Olivia Decitise (Troy, N.Y.), junior Giana LaCedra (Tyngsboro, Mass.) and senior Jen Slanovec (Bethlehem, Pa.) are all back for another season on the mound. LaCedra struck out 46 batters last season, posting 73 strikeouts so far in her career.

DeCitise

Neeld

The River Hawks finished in a draw for fourth in the 2025 America East Preseason Coaches' Poll. UMass Lowell received one first-place vote and 13 points.

I think our goal every year is the win the America East, but the standards we want to set are that we are competitive all the time, giving 100%, getting better each day that we are out there, we are clicking and working together as a group and really trying to work with all the strengths that we have.

UMass Lowell returns sophomores Alaina Santoli (Lovettsville, Va.), Quintanilla, Elizabeth Neeld (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) and Decitise, as well as juniors Katelyn Fitzgerald (Ambler, Pa.) and LaCedra. Veterans Slanovec and Emily Tow (North Kingstown, R.I.) will be entering their senior season.

Santoli, Quintanilla, Neeld & DeCitise

Tow & Slanovec

LaCedra

Fitzgerald

I think it’s really fun and kind of special because they are the first class we walked into at Lowell, so we’ve been with them for four years now. They’ve done an awesome job this year, especially this preseason with being leaders. Both of their styles are different in terms of how they approach it but they’re really getting things done at practice. They’ve taken the lead, Jen and her pitching has been outstanding and Emily’s been working hard offensively, and you can tell. They’re setting the bar for everyone else right now.

Spinello-Branch

Santiago

Hardy

Wade

Baumes

Stepp

Stubbs

Dolan

The River Hawks welcome eight freshmen to the roster Avery Spniello-Branch (Lorton, Va.), Thyanais Santiago (Methuen, Mass.), Kate Hardy (Alexandria, Va.), Madi Wade (Hagerstown, Md.), Emily Baumes (Rexford, N.Y.), Grace Stepp (Richboro, Pa.), Callie Stubbs (Salem, Ore.), and Taylor Dolan (Holbrook, Mass.).

I think the most exciting thing about them is they’re really versatile and really athletic. A lot of them can do multiple things for us, so we can move a lot of people around, do different things, and make our offense gel in a way that we haven’t before.

LaCedra & Slanovec

The River Hawks are set to play 47 games this season, with 26 non-conference contests.

UMass Lowell will compete in four tournaments in warmer weather. They will first head to San Antonio, Texas to be a part of the UTSA Tournament. Next, they will fly to Buies Creek, N.C. to compete in the Camel Invitational. This will be followed by the Spartan/Pirate Challenge in Norfolk, Va., with the final tournament will taking place in Clarksville, Tenn. for the Cathi Maynard Invitational.

“The schedule is a good mix where we can be competitive and face some really good teams. Those first four tournaments give us an opportunity to try things out, see what we’re working with, see what’s going to work, what might not work, what we need to change, set the tone for being competitive every, and bring our energy all the time. Getting used to being on the road and with a lot of young players will be really helpful to break in the way we travel and what college game day is going look like.”

Tow

Santoli

The River Hawks will make the trek home to take on Massachusetts on March 19 to then start conference play on March 22. The America East Championship games will take play from May 7-10 at the Bearcats Softball Complex in Vestal, N.Y.

“I think the America East had been so close, all four years that we’ve been here. The teams are very competitive with each other, and you see a lot of different things happen in the tournament. UMBC is always strong so that will be a good challenge for us to come out and play them first in the conference. I expect a really competitive year again with some really good softball.”

It’s been a really fun group to work with. They’re meshing really well so I think just watching them grow and learn, with our seniors and upperclassmen setting the tone, and then the freshman and sophomores will come into their own and get into the whole thing.

Fitzgerald