Marino named ITA West Region Coach of the Year

ORANGE, Calif. – Chapman University women’s tennis head coach Will Marino has been selected as the West Region Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association for NCAA Division III women’s tennis. The award comes on the heels of the Panthers reaching the West Region championship match for the first time in school history.

It’s the first ITA Coach of the Year award for Marino, who just completed his 11th season as head coach for Chapman’s men’s and women’s tennis programs. In 2010, he guided the Chapman women to a 13-5 overall record and had the Panthers ranked as high as No. 12 in the nation. Chapman also earned its first-ever postseason victory by defeating the University of Redlands at the West Region championships last month before losing to Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in the finals.

Marino saw his top two singles players Liz Lewis and Kelley Fox earn All-America honors by reaching the national championship tournament this season. Lewis and Fox were also selected to participate in the national championship tournament for doubles for the second straight year.

A youthful team, Chapman was ranked in the top-25 all season long and did not lose a single player to graduation this spring. In fact, three of Chapman’s starting six players in the postseason were freshmen in 2009-10.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

ITA Division III Awards:
http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Archives/2010_Division_III_Awards.htm