The University of South Dakota has named Marcia Oliveira (Mar-see-uh All-la-veer-uh) as the head coach of the women's soccer team, as announced by Director of Athletics Joel Nielsen. Oliveira, who has spent the past six seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division I Sam Houston State University, replaces Becky Hei-berger.

"The University of South Dakota is pleased to welcome coach Oliveira to the Coyote family," said Nie-lsen. "We were very imp-ressed with the work Marcia has done at Sam Houston State, building that program from the ground up and turning it into a competitive NCAA Division I program. I believe that Marcia will guide the Coyote soccer team in the right direction as we head to Division I."

While at Sam Houston State (Texas), Oliveira had the difficult task of not only competing against NCAA Division I competition but also building the program from the ground up. She was hired at SHSU in 2002 and one year later had the team ready for competition. The Bearkats made significant strides under the direction of Oliveira. In 2003 they were ranked sixth nationally out of the 13 first-year programs in Division I and in 2004 they closed out the season with their first Southland Conference win by defeating Southeastern Louisia-na in overtime. In 2005 the team advanced to the Southland Conference Tou-rnament championship ga-me after going 5-2-1 to close out the season. This past season, Oliveira guided SHSU to a school record six wins.

"I'm very excited to be a part of the Coyotes' transition to Division I in all aspects," said Oliveira. "I am looking forward to guiding the soccer team to perform at its best at the Division I level. Passion goes with Red! Go Yotes!"

The University of South Dakota finished the 2007 season with a 7-10-3 record overall and were 4-7-1 in the NCC. The Coyotes will begin their first year of transition to NCAA Divis-ion I in 2008.