VERMILLION, S.D. — The University of South Dakota and Athletic Director Jon Schemmel announced on Tuesday afternoon Shannon Pivovar as the next head coach of South Dakota softball, being named the 11th head coach in program history.
“I’m excited to announce Shannon as the next head coach for the University of South Dakota Softball program. ‘Piv’ has great pride in the University of South Dakota and her passion for Coyote Softball and our student-athletes is contagious,” said Schemmel. “She is the right person to lead our program and is committed to building upon the relationships she already has while providing an elite holistic student-athlete experience!”
Pivovar joined the USD softball coaching staff in the summer of 2023 and has been an assistant coach for the last three seasons (2024-26). She was promoted to Associate Head Coach ahead of the 2026 campaign where she was an instrumental piece in the program’s first-ever conference title at any level and first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and victory at the Lincoln Regional.
A key cog in the recruitment and development of student-athletes, Pivovar worked with all areas of on-field player development in her first three years as a Coyote. She also assumed duties as recruiting coordinator, camp coordinator, and internal aspects of managing the day-to-day of the program.
“I could not be more humbled and excited for the opportunity to be the next head softball coach at the University of South Dakota. The commitment level towards the overall growth of the softball student-athletes, the experiences afforded to them on and off the field, and the ability to Play for the Paw have been evident in my first three years on staff, and I am anxious to continue that moving forward,” said Pivovar. “There is something special about being at the flagship university of South Dakota and it is something I am excited to get to recruit to and put our own stamp on. I am very thankful to President Gestring, Jon Schemmel and all of senior staff for the trust given to me to build off the foundation that has been laid by the previous 48 years of USD softball. It’s a heck of a day to be a Coyote!”
Prior to her time on staff at South Dakota, Pivovar was the head coach at Division II University of Sioux Falls from (2019-23) where she won 109 games at the helm of the Cougars’ program. She won at least 23 games in each of her four full seasons at USF and coached 11 All-NSIC performers with six being First Team honorees, plus two NSIC Gold Glove recipients. Academically, Pivovar had 54 NSIC All-Academic Team honorees, 23 NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence, and five CSC Academic All-District Cougars.
She holds a career collegiate head coaching record of 109-113 in her five (four full) seasons as head coach.
She started her collegiate coaching career at Wayne State (Neb.) as a graduate assistant for the 2014 season after serving as a coach at Ralston and Marion High Schools in Omaha, while also a program coach for the Nebraska Fury / Nebraska Gold Fast Pitch Softball.
Before getting into the coaching ranks, Pivovar served as an assistant sports information director at Creighton.
A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Pivovar had a stellar collegiate career at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri where she was a three-time All-Conference performer for the Griffons. She was also a 2008 All-Region performer and the 2010 Missouri Western Female Student-Athlete of the Year. Pivovar sits top-10 in five offensive categories at Missouri Western State in her career, including sitting sixth in career at-bats (692) and eighth in doubles (40) while also being sixth in both most games played (226) and career starts (224).
Pivovar earned her degree from Missouri Western State in 2010 with a degree in sports management. She went on to earn her master’s degree from Wayne State in 2018.
A virtual (Zoom) press conference will be held for the media on Thursday, June 4.