Why the Texas Volts Called Stanford to Help NiJaree Canady

NiJaree Canady, one of college softball’s best players to grace the mound, has been eaten alive in her first several professional outings with the Texas Volts.

Coming off statistically her worst collegiate year on the mound, Canady is currently 0-3 with an ERA of 6.87 and has allowed 17 earned runs and seven homers.

Now, she is still overflowing with talent, but her final season with the Texas Tech Red Raiders saw a dip in numbers, and she struggled during the Women’s College World Series finale. Her ERA went from 1.11 after her first ride in Lubbock in 2025 to 1.87 in 2026.

This is a difference from her first two seasons with Stanford, where she became the USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year in 2024 and put up ERAs of 0.57 and 0.73, respectively.

So when the All-American finally made her way to the Texas Volts of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL), hitters in the professional scene took advantage. The righty was drafted No. 2 overall and joined the team late after contract negotiations. She lasted 2.1 innings in her first appearance and walked away with an ERA of 15.00 after allowing six hits.

“She got her outing. It wasn’t pretty. I pulled her aside right away and was like, ‘My rookie outing wasn’t good either. This is not indicative of what you’ve done. This is not indicative of what you’re going to do,” Cat Osterman, Olympic Gold Medalist and Texas Volts general manager, told Savanna Collins of the AUSL. “We’re here to help.”

REESE ATWOOD'S FIRST CAREER HIT IS A HOME RUN OFF NIJAREE CANADY 🫨❤️‍🔥

📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/wBWq0v2yzM
— carolina blaze | ausl (@AUSL_Blaze) June 14, 2026

The only way to "help" her? Go back to her roots and call up her former Stanford pitching coach, Tori Nyberg. Nyberg had recruited Canady out of high school and was her guide during those two years spent with the Cardinal.

According to the AUSL, Nyberg, Canady, and Volts assistant coach Josh Trevino talked and developed a plan for what Canady needs to work on to succeed as she did in college.

Nyberg immediately clocked that Canady’s body positioning isn’t the same as it was at Stanford. Some injuries at Texas Tech changed her mechanics, but he’s determined to get her back to what he calls the “OG NiJa”. When she first arrived at Stanford, Nyberg changed her “open” position to a “squared up” position, which positions her body toward home plate vs. third base, and allows for more power.

“She takes coaching phenomenally well, which high-level athletes don’t always do,” Trevino told the AUSL. “I have been really impressed by how she carries herself in the developmental space, how quickly she can connect the dots from an athletic stance.”

With her grinder mentality, Canady has already made the adjustments and is relearning. Her rise ball has already improved in terms of spin.

gottttt her

those are some reflexes from @CanadyNijaree 😮‍💨@TexasTechSB x @theAUSLofficial pic.twitter.com/34QS7CMdD2
— TEXAS VOLTS | AUSL (@AUSL_Volts) July 1, 2026

While she hasn’t grabbed a win in the circle just yet, she’s a sponge absorbing any new info around her. With other aces Rachel Garcia, Ally Carda, and Alyssa Denham on staff, Canady has no shortage of mentors.

The Volts are currently last in the league with a 3-11 record.

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