Troy Porco
Troy Porco enters his eighth season at Virginia. Over the past seven seasons, he and head coach Mark Guilbeau have teamed to take the Cavalier program to new heights.
After seven years as an assistant coach with the Cavaliers, Porco was elevated to Associate Head Coach in 2012.
Last year the Cavaliers matched a pair of records set a year earlier, tying the school with 20 wins and reaching the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The team was ranked a school record No. 6 nationally during the season and the team had two NCAA Singles Championship participants for the second consecutive year.
The 2010-11 season was a milestone one for Virginia. The Cavaliers won a school record 20 matches, including a school-record seven ACC wins. Virginia reached the NCAA Round of 16 for the first time school history and was ranked a school-record No. 8 nationally. The Cavaliers upset No. 3 Baylor in the first round of ITA National Team Indoors to reach the quarterfinals of that event and post their biggest win in program history. The team also set school records with two NCAA singles and two NCAA doubles selections, including Lindsey Hardenbergh, who reached the round of 16 in singles to become UVa's first All-American. In Porco's first season at Virginia, the Cavaliers went 14-10 and finished the year ranked No. 23. It was the first year-end top 25 ranking for the program since 1993. The year was highlighted by several benchmark wins. The first came when Virginia topped No. 19 TCU 4-3 for the team's first top-20 win in three years. A week later, a 5-2 win over No. 10 Duke marked the first victory over a top-10 opponent in school history. A win at No. 17 Wake Forest followed, but the biggest win of the season came in final home match of the year. The Cavaliers upset No. 6 Miami, the eventual NCAA runner-up. Virginia ended the season with a 6-5 ACC record, setting a new record for conference wins in a year. The Cavaliers received the first bid to the NCAA Tournament in three years and advanced to the second round with a 4-3 win over Alabama in the opening round. In 2007, the Cavaliers went 12-12 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It marked the first time in school history the program had won an NCAA Tournament match in consecutive years. In his third season at Virginia, the Cavaliers finished with a 10-13 record, including a win over No. 15 Florida State. In 2008-09, Virginia went 14-10 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years, falling to eventual National Champion Duke. In 2009-10, the Cavaliers ended the year ranked No. 25 nationally, finishing with a 15-10 record. The program hosted an NCAA Regional for the first time as the Cavaliers reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last five years.
In recent years Porco has also been the coach of the women's USTA Summer Collegiate Team. The squad, comprised of recent All-Americans, is an elite training program for top American collegiate players. Porco led the group as they competed in USTA Pro Circuit events.
Prior to arriving at Virginia, Porco was the head coach at Auburn from 1998 to 2005 and led the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in 2002. That season, he was honored as the SEC Coach of the Year and the ITA Southeast Region Coach of the Year. His team's at Auburn were traditionally one of the best academically at the school and he coached 34 Academic All-SEC selections. While at Auburn, Porco coached 14 nationally ranked players, 25 regionally ranked players, and an ITA South Region Rookie of the Year.
Prior to taking over the program at Auburn, Porco was an assistant women's tennis coach at Miami for five seasons. While at Miami, the Hurricanes won four Big East titles and appeared in three NCAA Championships. From 1991-92, Porco was the head coach of the women's tennis program at his alma mater, Florida International, and had a 21-15 record in two seasons.
"I know that his ethic, professionalism and love for coaching collegiate tennis creates great energy for our program and those are characteristics shared wholeheartedly by me," adds Guilbeau. "I know we are now in a position to offer every prospective and current women's tennis student-athlete the best environment and training necessary to reach their highest level of success."
Porco was an accomplished player prior to his coaching career. He was twice named Most Valuable Player while playing collegiate tennis at Florida International while serving as team captain his senior season. Prior to that, he was consistently ranked among the top 25 juniors in Florida.
He has also traveled the women's professional circuit with Mary Jo Fernandez (ranked as high as No. 4 in the world) as her hitting partner.
Porco is married to the former Chrissy Harris. The two were married in 1993 and have two children, Caroline (17) and Connor (15). They reside in Charlottesville.
