Villanova has hired Jill Batcheller as its new women’s lacrosse coach, the university announced Saturday.

Batcheller spent the last three seasons at Drexel, leading the Dragons to the best season in program history this spring. She replaces Julie Young, who resigned earlier this month after 10 seasons at the helm of the Wildcats.

Batcheller, a 2007 Syracuse graduate, has cultivated impressive turnarounds at each of her first two stops as a Division I head coach. Prior to Drexel, she coached for six seasons at Bryant, leading the Bulldogs to three NEC championships and NCAA tournament appearances.

“Following a national search that included some of the top lacrosse coaches in the country, Jill kept surfacing to the top of our process," Villanova athletic director Mark Jackson said in the announcement. “As an elite student-athlete at Syracuse and with two head coaching tenures at Bryant and Drexel that brought unprecedented success to those programs, Jill brings a depth of knowledge and experience that few could match. Her competitive spirit and familiarity with the lacrosse talent hot-bed here in Philadelphia and beyond will bring excitement and energy to our campus and community.”

Batcheller is Philly through and through. She grew up in Radnor, Pa., played high school lacrosse at Archbishop Carroll and also had a stint as an assistant coach at Saint Joseph’s (as well as Brown).

“Growing up two miles from campus,” she said, “Villanova has always felt like home.”

Batcheller’s best work came this past spring. She was named the CAA Coach of the Year after leading Drexel to a program-record 13 wins and an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. The Dragons earned their first-ever top-10 national ranking. Karson Harris was named a USA Lacrosse Magazine second-team All-American and earned an invitation to compete in U.S. national team tryouts.