FROM THE NEST | SPRING 2026 | 31 Sophia Geier: Women’s Tennis When she arrived in 2024, Sophia Geier recognized a team ready to take the next step. The Mountain Hawks had tied a program record with 14 wins the previous season and reached the Patriot League semifinals for the first time since 2018. In her first year, Geier led them back to the semifinals and now expects them to embrace that result as the standard. A two-time Mid-American Conference Player of the Year at the University of Akron, Geier coached Kenyon College to a regular season title, tournament conference title and an NCAA Division III Sweet 16 appearance. She then spent a season at Brown University before joining Lehigh. Throughout her career, she’s been looking for an opportunity like the one Lehigh provides. “I really enjoy [Lehigh] students. They’re very curious, very nice, very motivated, and very genuine,” Geier says. Always looking for an edge, Geier emphasizes holistic support for her student-athletes, including nutrition, sleep science, mental skills training, and strength and conditioning. Steph Lazo: Women’s Lacrosse Steph Lazo wasted no time getting started at Lehigh. Offered the job on a Friday night, she began the following Monday. “I was just so eager and excited to get going and to meet the girls and get this program developed and ready to go,” she says. Lazo knows the Mountain Hawks well, having competed against them as a player at Penn State and coached against them during five seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Delaware. To push the program forward, Lazo is embracing sports science technology, including GPS units to track her student-athletes during practices. These create an optimal recovery plan between practices and help players return from injuries quicker. She also is installing an uptempo, attack-focused style of play—fitting for a former Penn State attacker who scored 122 career goals and reached two NCAA Tournament semifinals. “You’re going to see a lot of goals,” Lazo says. “I’m really excited just to see them be creative and have fun on the field and do it together. I have chills thinking about it.” Brazel Marquez: Women’s Wrestling For Brazel Marquez, who was named the NCAA Super Region 2 Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Coaches Association in February, the past few years have been intense. “A lot of sleepless nights,” she says. Hired in 2023 as head coach of the women’s wrestling club team, Marquez has guided it to varsity status this season, making Lehigh one of just six Division I institutions with varsity women’s wrestling. This reflects Lehigh’s commitment to growth in women’s athletics under Gibson’s leadership, demonstrating a willingness to invest in progress and opportunity at a time when many other university athletics programs are scaling back. A three-time California state champion, four-time All-American youth wrestler and two-time collegiate All-American, Marquez coached at Wyoming Seminary, one of the top women’s wrestling prep schools in the country, and at several colleges before arriving at Lehigh. From an early age, she knew she wanted to coach one of the nation’s first Division I women’s wrestling teams and has already recruited several nationally ranked high school wrestlers. With another 10 wrestlers and a top-ranked recruiting class arriving for the 2026–27 season, Marquez is building a championship culture. “We’ve got high expectations,” she says. “Our goal is to put people on the podiums [at championship events] and make world and Olympic teams and achieve a high-level education, all at the same time.” Shawn McLaughlin: Volleyball Shawn McLaughlin sees a bright future for his team. “We have a very large group of starters coming back [next season],” he says. “The hope is that we’ve learned the lessons this season, gotten a little bit better, and then in the next couple seasons, you’re going to see us bust out and really grow.” That timeline would match what he’s done in previous roles. After struggling for several seasons, the University of Delaware went 61–23 during his three years as an assistant coach, winning one conference championship and finishing as runner-up twice. Before that, he helped the University of South Alabama win its first regular-season and tournament conference championships and make its first NCAA Tournament appearance. The Mountain Hawks have had just one winning season since 2018—something McLaughlin is eager to change. He is focused on providing a student-athlete experience rooted in care, support and competitive excellence. The success of Lehigh’s women’s basketball and softball teams offers a blueprint. Years of alumni support have helped those teams build stability, invest in student-athletes and compete consistently at the top of the Patriot League. With new leadership in place for the other women’s teams, Lehigh has a clear opportunity to extend that momentum. Women’s lacrosse head coach Steph Lazo expects her team to score many goals, and women’s tennis head coach Sophia Geier wants her team to make reaching the Patriot League semifinals the new baseline expectation. COURTESY OF LEHIGH ATHLETICS
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