STATESBORO - The Extra Inning Softball website recently spotlighted Georgia Southern assistant coaches Mary Beth Dennison and Heather Gelbard in its list of Top 10 Assistant Coaching Hires of the 2021 College Offseason.

Dennison and Gelbard both came to Statesboro to be a part of Head Coach Sharon Perkins' first staff at Georgia Southern for the upcoming 2022 campaign. Dennison joined the Eagles from the University of Michigan, where she had served as a volunteer assistant coach for the Wolverines, while Gelbard joined Georgia Southern from South Carolina, where she spent two years with the Gamecocks.

Below is the entry from the website which ranked the duo of assistants eighth on its Top 10 list.

8. Mary Beth Dennison and Heather Gelbard, Georgia Southern

Either one of these coaches would have been a solid "get" for Sharon Perkins in her return to college coaching. Bringing in both Dennison and Gelbard, though, was an early home run for the Eagles. Fighting for position in a stacked Sun Belt Conference, Dennison – a Georgia Southern alumnus – brings familiarity with the school and most spent a multi-year tenure as the volunteer assistant at Michigan. Gelbard was the head coach at UMBC and interim head coach at FIU, spending the last couple of years at South Carolina. The mix of voices is a solid one.

Georgia Southern opens up the 2022 season by hosting the Bash in the Boro tournament at Eagle Field on February 11-13. The Eagles' first action will be Friday afternoon, February 11, with a 4 p.m. contest against Binghamton.