Kylie Gazza joined the Abilene Christian soccer program as an assistant coach in 2024 and completed her second season with the Wildcats in 2025. Gazza made her way to ACU following a five-year playing career at Samford University, where she was a four-time All-Southern Conference First Team defender.

“Kylie is an outstanding addition to our program with her passionate energy, desire to influence and positive impact, and she has a decorated champion-driven career,” ACU head coach Stephen Salas said. “She will continue to raise the standard within our program on and off the field. Kylie has a high ceiling as a coach and a bright future with our ACU community.”

ACU built a historic campaign in 2025 as it qualified for its first Western Athletic Conference Tournament in program history, taking down eventual conference champion California Baptist on the final day of the regular season to punch its ticket. Three student-athletes received four total All-Conference accolades, the most the Wildcats have earned in the WAC and their most since the 2020-21 season.

Senior defender McCarly Holloman earned All-WAC First Team honors. Freshman goalkeeper Bella Medrano landed on both the All-WAC Second Team and All-WAC Freshman Team, and senior forward Amelia Leggett joined her on the All-WAC Second Team. Medrano became the first ACU freshman to make the First or Second Team since 2019.

Four different student-athletes received a WAC weekly honor, with Medrano becoming the first freshman to collect Jersey Mike's A Sub Above WAC Goalkeeper of the Week distinction since 2023. She shined in her first season on campus, leading the conference in total saves (109), saves per match (6.06) and save percentage (.790). Medrano ranked in the nation’s top 20 for total saves and saves per match.

Six student-athletes landed on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team for their success in the classroom.

ACU was undefeated through its first six matches of the 2024 season, with Savanna Alba earning Jersey Mike’s A Sub Above WAC Goalkeeper of the Week accolades on Sept. 17, 2024. Seventeen of 26 Wildcats on the roster were recognized with Academic All-WAC distinction.

A native of Cumming, Ga., Gazza led Samford to a 60-17-23 record from 2019-23, appearing in each of the team’s 100 matches with 99 starts. She was a key contributor for a Bulldog program that notched four consecutive SoCon regular season titles and three tournament championships from 2019-22. Samford made three trips to the NCAA Tournament and picked up a First Round win at Auburn in 2021.

Gazza was a four-time All-SoCon First Team honoree and was named to the All-SoCon Tournament Team three times. She was recognized as the SoCon Defensive Player of the Year as a junior in 2021. Gazza garnered United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-Southeast Region accolades in 2021 and First Team distinction in 2022.

As a two-year team captain, Gazza served as a representative on Samford’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and was selected for the prestigious NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum. Her impact on the campus community earned her recognition as a member of the Samford Dream Team, an honor given to student-athletes who exemplify leadership, integrity and service.

Gazza’s coaching journey began with Alabama FC in 2022 with U7 and U9 girls before transitioning into a role with Birmingham United Soccer Association, where she coached U7 to U14 players in the elite ECNL program. She also gained experience through Forest Futsal and various youth soccer camps Gazza continues to pour into the game by coaching U12 and U14 girls in the NPL NTX platform with Sting West Texas.