May 19, 2009

BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins women's tennis coach Chuck Willenborg had been named the Atlantic South Coach of the Year as announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association this week. The winningest coach in program history, he guided Hopkins to a 14-4 record, its third straight Centennial Conference title and the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2009.

In just five short years, Willenborg has turned the Hopkins women's tennis team into one of the best in the nation. He sports a record of 74-20 (.787) in his five seasons at Homewood, along with three Centennial Conference titles and three NCAA Tournament appearances. He has guided the Blue Jays to double-digit win totals in each of his five seasons. In the 31 years prior to his arrival, Hopkins had won 10 or more matches in one season just four times and never in consecutive seasons.

Willenborg needed just 53 matches and a little less then three years to surpass Kay Fowler Dressler as the winningest coach in program history. Dressler coached the Blue Jays from 1981 to 1986 and posted a 41-28 (.594) record. Willenborg won his 42nd match to surpass Dressler on April 29, 2007 with a 5-4 win over Swarthmore in the Centennial Conference title match.

Willenborg has coached nine different singles players to ITA Atlantic South regional rankings, as well as six different doubles pairs. In addition, two singles players and one doubles team have achieved national rankings during his tenure. Hopkins received its first-ever national ranking on Nov. 22, 2006 and has been ranked nationally for 19 straight polls. Additionally, the Blue Jays broke into the top 10 this season, climbing to as high as eighth. Hopkins is currently ranked 10th in the nation and fourth in the Atlantic South.