Holloway’s Dreams Take Flight at Notre Dame

Alexis Holloway may be more qualified than most pitchers to appreciate tracking the flight of the ball off a bat.

Not only is Holloway a valued member of Notre Dame’s staff, she’s preparing to graduate with a degree in aerospace engineering.

Holloway has spent her entire college career balancing a demanding academic load with practices, games and workouts.

“It’s definitely been challenging, but engineering is something that I am really interested in and something that I am really passionate about and I wanted to do,” Holloway said. “I am lucky that the coaching staff has worked with me the past four years to make softball and school work.”

Holloway and the Fighting Irish are preparing to begin NCAA regional play on Friday against Miami (Ohio) in Lexington, Ky. Notre Dame, which is making its 22nd straight NCAA appearance, has won 14 of its last 15 games.

“I am just so proud of the way we have attacked the latter half of the season. We have made some adjustments we needed to make and really come out firing on all cylinders,” said Holloway, who is 13-7 with a 2.66 ERA, 105 strikeouts and 62 walks in 115.2 innings pitched. “This is the time of year you want to get hot and rolling into the postseason, where you can really do some damage.”

Holloway’s interest in math and science began before she arrived at Notre Dame. She decided to major in engineering, but wasn’t sure exactly what direction that would take.

“I started with mechanical engineering, which I loved, but that was a little too broad for me. I am a classic overthinker and having too many options wasn’t the best fit for me,” Holloway said. “I have always been fascinated with airplanes and space and helicopters, so I made the switch my junior year over to aerospace and it’s one of the better moves I’ve made since I’ve been at Notre Dame.”

Notre Dame head coach Deanna Gumpf has been amazed at how Holloway is able to juggle all her demands. She’s allowed Holloway to leave in the middle of practices for classes or labs and return once they end.

“She has been through a lot and the engineering school is no joke. The time she puts in every single day is incredible,” Gumpf said. “And I can also tell you any time I am here alone on a random day, she is one that is here doing spins in the bullpen or hitting off a tee. She is constantly always doing something. I don’t know if she knows how to chill out and watch a movie. I don’t think that is in her DNA.”

It’s not.

“I am definitely someone that thrives in the chaos a little bit,” said Holloway, who was recently named the winner of the Byron V. Kanaley Award, which is the most prestigious award a Notre Dame student-athlete can receive. “I have never been one to try and do things the easy way, so me going through college and trying to do engineering as an athlete is just par for the course for me.”

Over the last few months, Holloway has been a member of two teams at Notre Dame.

Along with softball, she’s been a part of “Team 5” and designed a remote control plane for a group class project. Holloway, Estefy Castillo, Zac Schoon, Vince Burke and Adam Weaver built the plane from scratch.

The initial design phase took six weeks, followed by a review, a secondary design phase and the building of the plane. Last month, the plane took flight for the first time during a field test.

“That was really exciting to see,” Holloway said. “It was a really successful semester for all of us in that class because we all made planes that ended up flying and being able to do some really cool things.”

Gumpf went to watch the plane fly on a grass area just outside of campus.

“It was the coolest thing to see it take off and do tricks with it flying all over. It was going up and down and doing turns,” Gumpf said. “It was mind-blowing that she built this thing and it was flying in the air doing tricks. I am pretty sure she got an A on that.”

Holloway has future aspirations to work in the aerospace industry once she leaves college. She’s open-minded about any opportunity, but wants to be involved in the design process rather than “behind a desk crunching numbers.”

“I am really looking to be hands-on for a company that is looking to make a big splash in the field,” Holloway said. “I think there are a lot of things coming in the future that could really advance flight, both in space and here on earth, and being a part of a company looking to make some of those technological advances would be a dream come true.”

Holloway announced last week that she was returning for another year of eligibility along with fellow seniors Abby Sweet and Sarah Genz. She will be pursuing a master’s degree in management.

It gives her a chance to play with her younger sister, Anna, who will be a freshman utility player next season at Notre Dame.

“That is something that they never really even thought was possible. Now they will be playing on the same team,” Gumpf said. “I love that for their parents and I love that for her. Alexis Holloway is a Notre Dame person who will be here 20 years from now coming back. That’s just who she is. She loves this place so much and she loves this program so much.”

Although there have been a lot of stressful weeks and sleepless nights over the last four years, Holloway has no regrets about the ambitious path she’s taken at Notre Dame. 

“I wouldn’t trade it for anything. My experience here has been more than anything I ever hoped for and more than anything I thought it was going to be,” she said. “During any tough days, I remind myself this experience overall has been unbelievable.”