Alison Aguilar Haehnel is in her second season as head coach of the Concordia softball program.
 
Aguilar Haehnel's first season as Concordia's coach resulted in a young Cougar team winning 11 games, their most since 1984, and a team-record 10 games in conference play. She believes that the 2010 team made a significant first step in achieving her long-term vision for the program. "Last year was one of creating a 'building and believing' atmosphere within the team," says Aguilar Haehnel. "The talents of our freshmen players and the ability of our returning players to step up their games helped us build toward our ultimate goal of being a well-rounded program with pitching, defense, offensive power and speed. Our belief, stemming from hard work and passion, is that we can be a championship team. We come out every day ready to accomplish something. That readiness and the hunger to achieve success are trademarks that I want to continue as a fixture for our program."
 
The Concordia position is the first as a head coach for Aguilar Haehnel who previously served as an assistant coach at Washington College in Maryland (2005). St. Mary’s College of California (2006) and at her alma mater, the University of Illinois at Chicago (2007 and 2008).
 
Aguilar Haehnel was a four-year standout pitcher with the UIC Flames from 2000 to 2004. She remains in UIC’s top ten in 11 different pitching categories, both season and career. Among her career stats are 139 appearances (second), 64 wins (fifth) and 489 strikeouts (fourth). Aguilar Haehnel was named conference Pitcher of the Year twice, first in 2002 for the Midwest Collegiate Conference and again in 2004 for the Horizon League, and was honored with second-team All-Region accolades both years. Her collegiate career was highlighted by two no-hitters thrown six days apart – March 10, 2002 against the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and March 16, 2002 against Fordham University.
 
Aguilar Haehnel earned her B.A. in English in 2004 and M. Ed. in instructional leadership in 2008 from UIC. A native of Rolling Hills Estates, California, she and her husband David Haehnel reside in Chicago.