July 8, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame head coach Jay Louderback has signed a multi-year contract extension to continue as coach of the Fighting Irish women’s tennis program.
“I am extremely grateful for this vote of confidence from our administration,” said the 20th-year head coach. “I am so proud of where we have come in terms of a program and really look forward to our promising future as we strive to win a national championship.”
Louderback guided Notre Dame to a 22-9 record in 2008 and its 13th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Irish also captured their third BIG EAST title in four years and eighth overall since joining the conference in 1996. For his efforts, Louderback took home 2008 BIG EAST Coach-of-the-Year honors for the seventh time overall and second time in three seasons.
Senior Brook Buck (Yukon, Okla.) and junior Kelcy Tefft (Enid, Okla.) captured the program’s second-ever title in an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national championship following their triumph at the ITA National Indoors in November. Buck and Tefft went on to earn All-America status and even reached the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship – the furthest that any Notre Dame duo has advanced in the program’s history.
When Louderback took over as women’s tennis head coach at Notre Dame in the fall of 1989, he inherited a program that had competed on the Division I level for just four years and had never participated in the NCAA tournament or earned a national ranking. Louderback has turned Notre Dame into one of the premier women’s tennis programs in the nation.
The Irish have finished in the national top 30 in each of the last 16 seasons and have earned 15 berths to the NCAA Championship in that span. Notre Dame has captured 14 conference titles during Louderback’s tenure and has reached the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament on seven occasions, including three appearances in the quarterfinals (1996, 2006, 2007). The Courtney Tennis Center has also served as host of the 1998 NCAA Championships, largely due to his efforts.
Notre Dame posted its two best seasons in program history in 2006 and 2007. The Irish, who climbed as high as No. 2 in the country on numerous occasions in each season, finished 2007 with a 28-4 record and their second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The 28 victories is a school record, breaking the previous mark of 27 set during the 2006 campaign. Notre Dame upended 13 teams ranked in the top 25 and ended the season ranked seventh in the country (second highest in program history). Notre Dame went 14-1 against Midwest Region foes — ending the season as the top school in the region for the second consecutive year (the only two times in school history).
In 2006, Louderback and the Irish went 27-2 en route to the NCAA quarterfinals. The Irish finished the season fifth in the ITA rankings, the highest final ITA ranking since becoming a Division I program in 1985-86. After finishing 24th in 2005, Notre Dame was 22nd in the preseason before moving into the top five for good on Feb. 28.
Louderback’s players have enjoyed great success under his tutelage. Twenty-one Irish competitors have earned All-America honors, and four have garnered national awards from the ITA. In 19 years, 23 Notre Dame players have garnered invitations to the NCAA Singles Championship and 16 doubles squads have gained berths in the NCAA Doubles Championship.
Louderback’s players also have dominated University awards, winning the Francis Patrick O’Connor Award, given to one male and one female athlete each year that best embody the true spirit of Notre Dame, on eight occasions — more than any other sport. Louderback has had six winners of the Byron V. Kanaley Award, the most prestigious honor awarded to Notre Dame student-athletes, the most for any sport in the time since his arrival.
Another feature of Louderback’s leadership is academic excellence. Since the ITA began awarding the All-Academic Team award to squads maintaining a 3.20 grade-point average for the year, the Irish have earned the distinction 12 times in 13 years. Only one Division I school, Western Michigan, has a better mark, as the Broncos have won the award all 13 years. In addition, Louderback’s players have had a history of being named ITA Scholar-Athletes, which recognizes monogram winners who maintain a 3.50+ GPA for the year. In 2003, the first year the award was open to all classes (as opposed to only juniors and seniors being eligible), Notre Dame and the University of Evansville each had seven recipients, the most ever for one school in the 25-year history of the honor. He also has produced a pair of Academic All-Americans, and his squad posted a 3.552 combined grade-point average in the spring of 2004, the highest mark on record (since 1992) for any Irish team in a semester.
Louderback also has been decorated with 10 conference coach-of-the-year awards, and five times he has been named Midwest Region Coach of the Year. He was awarded the Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year in 2006. Since 1996, the Irish have compiled a dominating 119-20 (.856) record against regional opponents.
In 29 years of coaching, Louderback holds a 563-339 (.624) record, including a 518-306 (.629) mark coaching women’s tennis. At Notre Dame, he is 359-161 (.690), making him the winningest coach in program history.
— ND —