COLLEGE PARK, MD - Head coach Mark Montgomery has added two to his staff in Assistant Coach Emerald Doria, and John Garris as announced on Friday. "Coach Doria and Coach Garris are going to help the Terrapin Softball Team grow and improve in the BIG 10 Conference and I know I can't wait to get started!", Montgomery said.

Doria reunites with Montgomery after serving as associate head coach at Louisiana Tech beginning in 2014. Doria also played for Montgomery during her collegiate days at Centenary College in Shreveport, and was also instrumental in helping Louisiana Tech record five straight 30-plus win seasons – a feat that hasn't been accomplished by the program since the 1990s – and three conference titles (2019 regular season, 2017 & 2019 tournament) over the last three seasons.

The San Antonio, TX native joins the Terrapins from Southwestern University, where she has served as head coach since July of 2019.  "I am looking forward to being in the Big Ten coaching alongside Coach Montgomery once more," Doria said. "I'm ready to get to work and am excited to be part of the Maryland community!"

MONTGOMERY'S TAKE: "It is a dream come true to be able to work alongside Coach Doria again.  We not only coached together for five amazing years at Louisiana Tech University, but she also played shortstop for me at Centenary College of Louisiana. She will have a profound outcome on our achievement and growth. Coach Doria knows all of our shifts, systems, and strategies, but now having been a Head Coach for a few years, I think she will have even more to offer."

Garris comes to Maryland previously serving as head coach for six years at Southern University after being named interim coach in 2014. Garris's 2021 and 2017 SU squad went the farthest a Southern team has gone in eight years at the SWAC Tournament, finishing third. Every one of his teams have made the SWAC tournament since he has been on the Bluff. Garris was named the 2015 SWAC Coach of the Year after leading the Lady Jaguars to the school's first winning season in eight years. That team ranked eighth in the nation in double plays and led the SWAC in virtually every defensive category. 

"There is absolutely no doubt that Coach Montgomery is going to lead Maryland Softball to a level that is yet to be seen," Garris said. "The opportunity to join his staff and work toward that end at a top tier academic institution in one of the nation's best conferences is one that was very easy to say yes to. He has assembled an incredible staff and I am honored beyond measure that he would ask me to be a part of it. An elite institution in a premier conference with one of rhe nation's top coaches is something that I am very excited about."

MONTGOMERY'S TAKE: "Coach Garris is such an accomplished Coach.  With two decades of service in the Division I ranks, both as an Assistant and a Head Coach, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience to bestow upon Maryland Softball.  I have had the privilege of working with Coach Garris before and I promise he is going to make Maryland Softball better!"