TORI RABY-GENTRY
Phone: 276-328-0260
E-mail: tlr3v@uvawise.edu

Tori Raby-Gentry

Tori Raby-Gentry begins her first season as head coach of the UVa-Wise softball team looking to propel the talented Lady Cavaliers toward unprecedented heights.

The softball program at UVa-Wise had its genesis in 1996, and over the past four years has won two regular season conference titles and has made four consecutive journeys to the Region XII tournament.

Those regional appearances, however, is as far as the Lady Cavs have advanced. Raby-Gentry brings to the UVa-Wise squad a winning attitude and the vast experience needed to push the team toward their goal of advancing to the national championships.

Raby-Gentry spent last season at NCAA Division II Presbyterian (S.C.) College coaching pitchers and catchers. The Blue Hose won 48 games in 2004 and captured the South Atlantic Conference championship. Raby-Gentry’s pitching staff recorded a microscopic 1.80 ERA and played a major role in the team’s success.

Before her coaching stint at Presbyterian, Raby-Gentry served a year as head coach at St. Catherine College in Kentucky, guiding the Lady Patriots to their first winning season with a school-best 26-18 mark.

Raby-Gentry served two years as an assistant coach at Motlow State Community College in Lynchburg, Tenn., before taking the head position at St. Catherine.

At UVa-Wise, Raby-Gentry also will serve as part of the teaching faculty in the College’s new physical education major.

The tough competition in the AAC will be nothing new to Raby-Gentry. The Fayetteville, Tenn., native excelled as a pitcher at Tennessee Wesleyan College. She posted a 20-9 record as a senior at Tennessee Wesleyan and was named conference player of the year. She was selected first team all-region during her last two seasons at Tennessee Wesleyan.

Raby-Gentry, who is married to Chad Gentry, earned a bachelor’s degree at Tennessee Wesleyan in 2000 and completed a master’s degree in physical education at Middle Tennessee State University in 2001.