After spending two seasons as the Eagles' top assistant, Christina Nikolai was elevated to the position of head coach of the women's lacrosse program at Embry-Riddle in August 2024.
In her first year leading the program in 2025, Nikolai led the Blue and Gold to the best season in program history. The Eagles were ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation and finished the year with a program-best 17-4 overall record. The Eagles posted a 6-1 record in Sunshine State Conference play, which included an upset of top-ranked Tampa, on the way to a share of the SSC regular season title, another program first. Embry-Riddle also advanced to its third straight Sunshine State Conference tournament and secured the program’s first NCAA II national tournament berth. As the No. 3 seed in the South Region, the Eagles defeated Mount Olive for the program’s first tournament victory.
During her second season in charge, Nikolai led ERAU to their second straight national tournament appearance with a 12-6 overall record. On March 28, 2026, she became the all-time winningest coach in program history with her 26th career win, a 17-7 win at Palm Beach Atlantic. The Blue and Gold opened non-conference play by winnning nine of their first 10 games and climbed to No. 4 in the national poll, as Nikolai's all-time record against non-SSC opposition improved to 14-1. Embry-Riddle qualified for the Sunshine State Conference tournament for the fourth consecutive season, earning a 16-11 victory over Florida Tech and proceeding to the national tournament as the No. 5 seed in the South Region.
Over her first two seasons, Nikolai has seen several student-athletes garner individual accolades. The Eagles have had 13 All-SSC selections, six All-Americans, and seven All-Region honorees in the last two years, including the 2026 SSC Goalkeeper of the Year. Along with developing players, Nikolai has seen her teams excel in the classroom, boasting a 3.704 team GPA in the fall of 2026.
Her successes in 2025 earned Nikolai Sunshine State Coach of the Year honors in her first season as a head coach.
As an assistant coach, she helped the Eagles to a 25-11 record and back-to-back Sunshine State Conference Tournament appearances. Throughout that time, Nikolai helped recruit and mentor nine All-SSC athletes, in addition to Eliana Enners, the 2024 SSC Freshman of the Year.
Prior to her arrival at Embry-Riddle, Nikolai was team captain and a five-year starting defender for the Stetson women's lacrosse team. As a junior, she was named to the Atlantic Sun All-Conference first team after leading the team in caused turnovers and finishing sixth in the league in ground balls per game (2.22). She also garnered ASUN Honor Roll and IWLCA Academic Honor Roll honors in 2021 and was an ASUN Academic Honor Roll selection in 2022.
Nikolai spent a year and a half as the coach of the Burning River Lacrosse club program in Ohio. She was also a Student-Athlete Academic Success Specialist and Business Foundations tutor at Stetson.
A native of Medina, Ohio, Nikolai graduated from Stetson with an undergraduate degree in Business Administration in 2020 and earned her MBA in 2022.
