Susie Campbell-Gross
Susie Campbell-Gross enters her 15th season at the helm of the University of Portland women’s tennis team. She has instilled a winning tradition on The Bluff since her arrival in the 1993-94 season.
A two-time West Coast Conference Coach of the Year, Campbell-Gross and is the winningest women’s tennis coach in school history. Cambell-Gross and the Pilots battled through an injury-plagued 2005-06 season to capture sixth-place at the West Coast Conference Championships, upsetting higher seeded Santa Clara in the consolation bracket.
Campbell-Gross returns five experienced players to the 2006-07 roster and welcomes the addition of prized recruit Audree Jenks to the mix. Jenks, the three-time New Mexico state champion, was ranked No. 4 in the Southwest region and was the top-ranked 18 and under women’s tennis player in the southwest section of the United States when she committed to the Pilots last spring.
Campbell-Gross' best season at Portland came in 1996-97, when the Pilots posted a 16-7 mark during to tie the school record for wins.
A point of emphasis on The Bluff for Campbell-Gross is academic excellence from her squad. She has coached one WCC Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Andrea Swick, 1993), and five WCC All-Academic honorees (Nicole Burnham, 1994-95; Jill Nickel, 1995; Cara Miller, 1996; Megan Morrow, 1995-97; and Kaori Tanabe, 2003-04).
Former standout athlete Courtney Perkins was a First Team All-WCC selection in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and was the school’s first women's player ranked in the ITA Top 100. Campbell-Gross also coached Amy Juppenlatz to honorable mention All-WCC singles honors in 2003.
As a player, Campbell-Gross was ranked the Pacific Northwest’s No. 1 open singles and doubles player, competed on the WTA Tour and was named the 1994 Pacific Northwest Women’s Open Player of the Year. She was a finalist in the $15,000 Nike Open Championships in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Campbell-Gross has also competed in Europe on two occasions in 1986 and 1989.
Campbell-Gross graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1989 with a business degree. She was a two-year letterwinner in tennis and earned one letter in softball for the Sooners. She was a member of the 1988 Big-8 Conference doubles championship team and received the Big-8 Sportsmanship Award in 1998. Campbell-Gross reached the NCAA quarterfinals and was an NCAA All-American in 1988. She began her tennis career at Cal State Northridge in 1984 and earned All-American honors there before transferring to Oklahoma.
Originally from Woodland Hills, Calif., Campbell-Gross was a four-time All-CIF state selection out of Louisville High School. She was the top-ranked singles and doubles player in the CIF southern California area as a senior.
Campbell-Gross began her coaching career at the high school level. She coached at Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis, Ore. and led her team to three-straight district championships (1991-93). She was also a staff instructor at Oregon State University from 1991-93 and was the head pro and manager of the Tennis West Racquet Club during that time.
Campbell-Gross is a former assistant tennis professional at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland and has coached Northwest junior teams at the USTA national events from 1996-98.
Campbell-Gross is married to Portland’s men’s head tennis coach Aaron Gross. They have two daughters, Jasmine (8) and Mackenzie (4) and a newborn son, Gavin.
