Terry Ann Zawacki-Woods, now in her 10th year at the helm for the Hokies, became the seventh women’s tennis coach at Virginia Tech on September 8, 2003.
Last year, Zawacki-Woods guided the team to a 14-12 finish. The squad knocked off three nationally-ranked teams throughout the year, including then-No. 16 Duke in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Tech has had 11 nationally-ranked players in her tenure, 20 ITA Scholar-Athletes, 26 players named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll and six selected to the All-ACC Academic Women’s Tennis team. The Hokies were named as an ITA All-Academic team for the tenth time in the program’s history and the fifth time under the direction of Zawacki-Woods.
Zawacki-Woods served on the ITA Operating Committee and was a NCAA Women’s Tennis Chair. She also served as the ITA Atlantic Region Chair.
In Tech’s brief ACC history, the Hokies have had six players named to the All-conference team. Tech finished last season seeing Illinca Stoica ranked nationally in singles action, while her and her doubles counterpart Kelly Williford were among those ranked in the Atlantic Region. The Hokies concluded the 2010-11 season with Yasmin Hamza nationally ranked in singles, while Martha Blakely earned an Atlantic Region ranking. Hamza/Holly Johnson were also ranked nationally and in the Atlantic Region in doubles. The Tech women’s tennis team was also the recipient of the 2007 ACC Sportsmanship Award.
Martha Blakely was named to the Capital One Academic All-America District III At-Large First team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America, after being a third team selection last year. Yazmin Hamza was the Atlantic region recipient of the ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship.
Zawacki-Woods currently serves on the NCAA Women’s Tennis Committee and the ITA Operations Committee.
Prior to coming to Tech, Zawacki-Woods served as head coach at Charlotte for three years. In 2001, her first year at Charlotte, the 49ers received the program’s first-ever national ranking of No. 59 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings.
Before assuming her position at Charlotte, Zawacki-Woods served as an assistant coach at Michigan for three years, helping the Wolverines to a second place finish in the Big Ten Conference in 1998 in addition to producing two Big Ten Sportswomen of the Year.
As a player, Zawacki-Woods was a two-time All-American at Wake Forest and was named to the ACC’s 50th Anniversary Team. She was the first tennis player at Wake Forest to be named All-ACC for four years and the first to compete in the NCAA singles tournament. As the top player for the Demon Deacons all four years, Zawacki-Woods was named the 1993 Southeast Region Rookie of the Year and the 1996 Southeast Senior of the Year. She was the first Wake Forest player to be nationally-ranked all four years, achieving a top ranking of sixth in the nation. Zawacki-Woods led the Demon Deacons to three ACC finals and three top 15 finishes nationally.
Following her collegiate career, Zawacki-Woods turned professional and faced some of the top players in the world, including Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Chanda Rubin.
A native of Union, N.J., Zawacki-Woods lives in Christiansburg with her daughter Kirsten.
