Nikki Yanchak begins her first season as the head coach at Garrett College in the Fall 2025.  She enters Garrett with coaching experience at every level of NCAA as well as stints at USCAA, WV High school and one prior semester coaching in the NJCAA.

Yanchak most recently was an assistant coach (2024) and then interim head coach (2025) at California (PA), an NCAA Division II college in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).  During her time as assistant coach she helped legendary coach Rick Bertagnolli earn a spot in the conference tournament and tutored All Conference players Caleigh Rister (1^st Team P/UTL) and Carlena Fiorilli (2^nd Team OF).  Rister was named the West Conference Athlete of the Year after batting .444 and ending the season with a 3.32 ERA while striking out 115 batters.  During her lone season as the interim head coach, she led the team to the conference tournament and helped 2 players garner All Conference accolades.  Freshman Amarah McCutcheon was a First Team selection as the Designated Player and fellow Freshman Makayla Jerin was a Second Team selection at third base.

Yanchak was the interim head coach of West Liberty University (NCAA DII), a member of the Mountain East Conference (MEC), in the Fall of 2023 taking over after Herb Mich retired just as the school year started. 

Prior to that fall, Yanchak served two seasons as the head coach at Alderson Broaddus (NCAA DII) before the university closed its doors.  A-B was competing in the Mountain East Conference (MEC).  In her two seasons she won more games each season than the softball team had won in their previous 6 seasons.  She was able to work with 2 All-Conference players: Grace Sobeck, All MEC 2^nd team (2022) and Hailee Culbertson, All MEC 2^nd Team (2023).  Both earned the nod at 2^nd Base.

Yanchak earned her 1^st Head Coaching position at NCAA Division III member Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH.  In the first year as a member of the Presidents Athletic Conference (PAC), Franciscan just missed out on the playoffs and she worked with All-Conference Players Chloe Cross (Catcher) and Jenny Massey (OF).

The season before Coach Yanchak was the pitching coach at Youngstown State University (NCAA DI), a member of the Horizon League.  The season was cut short because of COVID but the team was out to its best start in 10 years.  She worked with Elle Buffenbarger, who would go on to become YSU’s wins and strike out leader.  During the spring season that she worked with Elle, she threw a no hitter and followed that up with 6 2/3 of another hitless innings before surrendering a hit and finishing with a one-hitter. Elle would go on to become the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year and 3-time Team All-Conference player.

In her one season as an assistant coach at Washington & Jefferson College she worked with All-American shortstop Rachel Johnson (All PAC 1^st Team, NFCA All Central Region).

She also coached for a season at Penn State Fayette and at Clay Battelle HS in West Virginia.  She has been a mentor to hundreds of young ladies who she has given lessons while working as an instructor at Pro Performance in Morgantown, WV as well as the numerous players that she coached during travel softball in the fall and summer.  She has helped over 20 young ladies to play softball collegiately.

As a player, Yanchak was a two-time, all-conference player for the Fighting Falcons while playing in two different leagues. Nikki appeared in nearly 100 games as a pitcher at Fairmont State from 2011-14.  She finished her career in the circle with a 39-26 record and a 2.98 ERA while logging 434.0 innings with 307 strikeouts. Yanchak posted a breakout 2013 campaign, as Fairmont State won 37 games and advanced to the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) Championship in the final year of the league. She set a career best with a 1.70 ERA in 19 appearances with 10 complete games and an 11-4 record. As a senior, Yanchak set career highs with 16 victories, 145.0 innings pitched and 21 starts while playing in the first year of the MEC.

Yanchak earned her bachelor's degree in exercise science from Fairmont State in 2014. She later completed a master's degree from Fairmont State in exercise science with a concentration in fitness and wellness two years later.

Coach Yanchak resides in Morgantown with her husband George and son Knox (1).  She also has 3 bonus children:  Joseph (works for Boston Red Sox), Thomas (Sr. at WVU) and Mary Jane (Fr. at WVU).