Lauren Longbotham Meisner begins her third season at the helm of the Auburn women's tennis program after being named head coach on October 6, 2011.
Meisner led the Auburn program to arguably the top season in school history in 2013. The Tigers finished the season ranked 25th by the ITA, the highest final standing since 1996. Additionally, Auburn closed the year ranked second in the Southern region.
The Tigers won 19 matches in 2013, the most since 1989 and second-most in school history. Auburn also earned victories in the NCAA and SEC tournaments for the first time since 2008 and 2009, respectively. During the dual season, Auburn won 14-straight matches and reached as high as No. 14 in the ITA rankings.
Under the tutelage of Meisner, freshman Pleun Burgmans was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, ITA Southern Region Rookie of the Year and was a first team All-SEC selection in 2013. The Netherlands native closed the season ranked 25th nationally and as the top player in the region.
Auburn finished the 2013 SEC season at 7-6, the most wins in conference play for the program since 2002. Seven league victories are the most conference wins for Auburn since recording an 8-3 record in 1993.
Despite not taking over the Auburn program until October 2011, the Tigers showed marked improvement in year one under Meisner. Meisner guided the Tigers to a 3-8 mark in SEC play in 2012. That record was a 300 percent improvement after winning just one conference match in 2010-11.
Auburn also also won back-to-back league matches in 2012 for the first time in nearly three years and reached three victories in the rigorous SEC for the first time since 2010.
Prior to her appointment at Auburn, Meisner spent the previous five seasons as head coach at Southern Methodist University where she led the program to a NCAA Sweet 16 in 2011 and the program's first-ever Conference USA Tournament championship in 2009.
SMU's career leader in wins by a coach (105) and winning percentage (.784), Meisner directed the Mustangs to a school record three-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances from 2009-11 and was named C-USA Coach of the Year in 2009.
Meisner was named the 2011 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Texas Region Coach of the Year for her accomplishments. Besides leading the team to its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1988 and No. 29 final ranking, she also coached Marta Lesniak, who becamethe program's first All-American in over 20 years.
Coach HawkeIn 2009, the Mustangs went 28-3 and won the Conference USA Championship, which was the first league tournament title in school history. The team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship and finished with the No. 23 national ranking, the highest since 1989.
The 2010 Mustang team advanced to the NCAA second round and finished with a 24-5 record and No. 29 ranking.
In five years at SMU, Meisner coached 40 players to all-conference singles and doubles selections, including Lesniak, who was the C-USA Player of the Year in 2010 and 2011. Her student-athletes not only excelled athletically, but also academically as she had 35 Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll members, one C-USA Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year and five consecutive ITA All-Academic teams. Four of her five squads recorded the highest team GPA of all SMU sports.
Meisner also served as the C-USA Women's Tennis coaches' chairperson, a two-year position she was voted into by her fellow C-USA coaching peers. In 2008, she was selected by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) to serve a three-year term on the Southwest Regional Committee.
Prior to being named head coach at SMU in August 2006, Meisner served as an assistant for the Mustangs for three seasons (2003-06) where she helped guide the team to a 53-27 record and an NCAA second round appearance in 2004. During her three years as an assistant, SMU was conference runners-up all three seasons and had two ITA Top 50 team finishes.
Before arriving to SMU, Meisner spent a semester as a volunteer assistant coach for her alma mater, Louisiana Tech.
A four-year letterwinner at Louisiana Tech from 1999-2003, she was the team captain for two years. Meisner was a mainstay in the Louisiana Tech lineup both in singles and doubles play and was named the team's Singles Player of the Year in 2000.
A native of Groesbeck, Texas, Meisner earned her Bachelor of Science degree in education from Louisiana Tech in 2003 after majoring in secondary education and minoring in history and fitness and wellness.
She and her husband, Tod, were married in 2007. The couple welcomed their first child, a son, Courtney James in May 2012.
