Thu, July 19, 2012

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - William and Mary head women's tennis coach Tyler Thomson announced the addition of Jesse Medvene-Collins to the Tribe program as its assistant coach. Medvene-Collins spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach in the Big Ten at the University of Iowa under the direction of Katie Dougherty. 

 

"Jesse is a great fit for this program," Thomson said. "He brings experience and passion, and an understanding of William and Mary's history of excellence in tennis. He also believes, as I do, that great things are possible in the future. We are very fortunate to have him on our coaching staff."  

 

His responsibilities at Iowa included assisting with recruiting, budget oversight, player development, practice management, match scheduling, fund-raising and team travel. During the 2012 season, Iowa was ranked as high as No. 58 nationally and earned upset wins over No. 36 DePaul and No. 48 Penn State. The Hawkeyes finished the 2012 campaign at No. 10 in the ITA Central Region. In 2011, Medvene-Collins assisted in the recruitment of the No. 18 class in the country to Iowa. During his tenure with the Hawkeyes, he also assisted with the development of four-time All-Big Ten selection Sonja Molnar, who was a unanimous all-league choice in 2011 and 2012. She was ranked as high as No. 96 in 2011 and No. 66 in 2012. He also saw an Iowa doubles team reach the NCAA Doubles Championship event for just the fourth time in 2011. 

 

"I am thrilled to be part of the Tribe tennis family," Medvene-Collins said. "I have always had great respect and admiration for the history of success here and for all of the great players, teams and coaches who have been part of William and Mary Women's Tennis. I am very excited to work with Tyler. He is someone who I have felt fortunate to call a colleague, mentor and friend in the past, and I am really looking forward to working together."

 

This past summer, he was named the Intersectional coach for the Missouri Valley Section Team at the USTA National Team Boys 18 Championships. Medvene-Collins achieved Level 1 certification in the RPT Europe Spanish Player Development Course in 2012. He is also a USPTA (United States Professional Tennis Association) Teaching Professional.

 

Prior to his time in Iowa City, Medvene-Collins was the head women's tennis coach at Mills College in Oakland, Calif. He led the Cyclones to a victory over the No. 7-ranked team in the West Region during his lone season, marking the highest-ranked win in program history. 

 

A native of Washington D.C., Medvene-Collins started his collegiate coaching career as an assistant with stops at Dartmouth (2003-05), Wake Forest (2005-07) and his alma mater the University of Redlands (2007-09). During his two seasons at Dartmouth, he helped the Big Green to an overall record of 26-16 and national rankings of No. 71 in 2004 and No. 65 in 2005. He also assisted in the development of a top-100 nationally-ranked singles player in Jayme Ahmend, a two-time first-team All-Ivy League selection. In 2005, Dartmouth earned an ITA All-Academic team award, compiling a cumulative grade point average above 3.2.

 

While serving as an assistant coach for the Demon Deacons, he helped guide Wake Forest to NCAA Tournament appearances in 2006 and 2007 to go along with national top 25 rankings. After being ranked as high as No. 14 nationally in 2006, the Deacs finished the year at No. 22, before capping off the 2007 campaign at No. 20 nationally. He assisted with the development of 2006 NCAA Singles Championship participant Alex Hirsch, who finished the year ranked No. 43 nationally. Wake Forest had three nationally ranked singles players and two nationally ranked doubles teams at the conclusion of the 2007 season. 

 

As an assistant at Redlands, he helped lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back conference championships in 2008 and 2009. Redlands was ranked among the top 25 nationally in Division III during his tenure and finished the 2009 campaign with a program-best national ranking of No. 8. During his time with the Bulldogs, he assisted in the development of three nationally ranked players. 

 

Medvene-Collins earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from Redlands in 2002 before returning to earn his master's degree in higher education in 2009. As a four-year letterwinner for the Bulldogs, he earned all-conference honors during each of his final three seasons. The Bulldogs participated in the NCAA Division III Tournament during each of his four seasons and finished his sophomore campaign at No. 4 nationally. 

 

The Tribe women's tennis program is storied both in the CAA and nationally. W&M has won 21 of the CAA's 28 all-time women's tennis championships and finished the year ranked No. 1 in its ITA Region on 14 occasions. In total, the Tribe has advanced to the NCAA Tournament on 18 occasions, including 14 of the last 18 years. W&M has finished ranked among the national top 20 in 12 seasons since 1990. In all, 13 different athletes have captured 26 All-America honors for the Tribe.