Penn coaches earn Ultiworld Division I women’s Coaches of the Year honors

Ultiworld’s Division I women’s Coaches of the Year honor went to Pennsylvania’s Ashika Mani, Jackson Dolan and Cravotta after the staff guided the program through the most successful run in team history. The award recognized Penn’s conversion of a talented roster into a team that met and then exceeded the expectations attached to a legitimate Nationals threat.

The award is for a sport where staffs often function as collectives instead of a single head coach, and Penn’s rise made that structure impossible to miss. Mani, Dolan and Cravotta had to juggle tactics, motivation, communication, personnel management, skill development and buy-in while keeping the group aligned under the pressure that comes with national relevance. The coaches knew when to push, when to steady the room and how to make the most of the tools on hand, even in difficult stretches.

Grace Maroon stood as the clearest focal point on the field, but Penn’s breakthrough was never just about one star carrying the load. The staff built a system that kept the entire roster oriented around its strengths, and that consistency gave the Quakers the flexibility to absorb pressure without losing their identity. That kind of precision mattered at a program that had already finished as second runner-up two seasons earlier and then climbed another level in 2026.

Dolan and Mani had already been honored before. Ultiworld named UC Santa Cruz’s Nick Tolfa as first runner-up. Penn’s case stood out because the staff’s choices were visible everywhere: in the way the Quakers were organized and in how they responded to pressure.