Clark To Head Up UNCW Women's Tennis Program
WILMINGTON, North Carolina -
Former collegiate standout and University of Maryland assistant men's
coach Evan Clark has been named the 11th head women's tennis coach at
UNCW.
Clark takes over
following the departure of 12-year veteran Jenny Garrity, who resigned
earlier this summer to move to Clemson, S.C. Clark begins his new post
next week and plans to hit the ground running at the South College Road
campus.
"We're very pleased
to welcome Evan and his wife Katelynn to the Seahawk family," said Jimmy
Bass, UNCW's athletic director. "Evan is one of the bright young tennis
coaches in America. He's passionate and energetic about tennis, and is a
perfect fit for our program. We're confident Evan will continue the
upward trend and success of our women's tennis program."
The 28-year-old
Clark has served as an assistant coach at three different NCAA Division I
institutions - Missouri-Kansas City, Penn State and Maryland - and
helped the Terrapins climb to No. 38 in the Intercollegiate Tennis
Association men's rankings last season.
"I could not be more
excited," Clark said of his new appointment. "I want to thank Jimmy
Bass and Pat Howey for giving me the opportunity to lead the women's
tennis program. I also want to thank the search committee for being
extremely supportive and helpful throughout the process.
"I feel very
fortunate to inherit a great group of student-athletes and a program
that has achieved so much success, both in the classroom and on the
court. We will work very hard to improve on that success and to take the
program to the next level.
"It didn't take much
time for me to realize that UNCW is a very special place. The
environment that UNCW provides for the student-athlete is first class
and something I will be proud to be a part of. My family and I are
excited to become part of the Seahawk family and I can't wait to get to
work."
A native of Liberty,
Mo., Clark was the Missouri 4A state high school champion in 2002 with a
perfect 31-0 record and was named the Tennis Male Athlete-of-the-Year
by The Kansas City Star. He went on to earn First-Team All
Mid-Continent Conference honors twice (2003 and 2004) at UMKC before
closing out his collegiate career at Arkansas.
Clark served as
Director of Junior Development at Woodside Racquet Club in Kansas City
before embarking on his collegiate coaching career as an assistant
women's coach at UMKC in January of 2005.
The Missouran then
worked briefly as Director of Junior Development and Junior Competition
for the USTA Missouri Valley (Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska,
Oklahoma) before accepting a position as assistant women's coach at Penn
State. Following a two-year stay in State College, where he played a
major role in recruiting key players currently enrolled in the program,
Clark moved to Maryland in the fall of 2010.
In College Park,
Clark helped the Terp men secure their first NCAA Tournament berth
(2011) and inaugural victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament,
beating Michigan, 4-2. He also helped Maryland nail down victories over
ACC rivals Florida State, Miami, Georgia Tech and UNC Chapel Hill. Last
season, UM scaled to No. 38 in the ITA poll and featured the
ninth-ranked doubles team of Maros Horny and John Collins.
The Seahawks, 15-7
overall last spring, posted their ninth consecutive winning season in
and made it as high as No. 67 in the ITA rankings.