Tara Ballay joins the Bloomsburg coaching staff in 2016 after a stellar four-year playing career at Division I Rider University.
Ballay finished her playing career ranked sixth on the school's all-time scoring list with 20 goals and 45 points in only 53 games. She led Rider to three consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Association (MAAC) postseason appearances and was the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year prior to her senior campaign in 2015.
A native of Delran, New Jersey, Ballay earned CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American honors as a senior and Second Team accolades as a junior. She was also a three-time MAAC All-Academic honoree.
As a junior, she was the MAAC Player of the Year after leading the conference in goals (11) and points (24) despite missing five games with a broken leg. She also earned NSCAA Third Team All-East and All-ECAC Second Team honors. In 2012, Ballay was the MAAC Rookie of the Year after finishing eighth in the conference in points per game.
She graduated from Rider University in May of 2016 with a degree in psychology. She compiled a 3.90 cumulative GPA and was a member of the Dean's List. In 2015, she was a Senior CLASS Award Top 30 candidate. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award honors the attributes of NCAA Division I senior student-athletes in four areas: community, classroom, character, and competition.
