SHREVEPORT, La. – Centenary College Director of Athletics and Recreation Bob Bunnell is pleased to announce the hiring of Matt Coomer as the next head coach of Ladies and Gents Tennis.
Coaching experience for Coomer includes four seasons as an assistant tennis coach at NCAA Division I Louisville from 2011-15.
"I'm pleased to announce that Matt Coomer has accepted our offer to become our new Head Ladies and Gents Tennis Coach," said Bunnell. "Throughout my conversations with him, it became clear that Matt will bring energy and enthusiasm to the position and will be successful at building the programs from the ground up. I look forward to having him join the Ladies and Gents athletic staff."
Coomer most recently served as the head teaching professional at the Southern Indiana Tennis Center. He worked with several of the top junior players in the area while also working as the director of the junior tennis program.
"I feel blessed for the opportunity to join the Centenary family as the head tennis coach," said Coomer. "I would like to thank Dr. Bob Bunnell and the Centenary athletics staff for this great opportunity. I look forward to building this program and leading this group of incredible young athletes to success both on and off the court. Go Ladies and Gents!"
Prior to his time as a teaching professional, Coomer was an assistant coach for the Louisville women's tennis program from 2011-2013 and the men's tennis program from 2013-2015. Under his guidance, Sebastien Stiefelmeyer rose to number one in the NCAA singles rankings and won the 2014 US Tennis Association (USTA)/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Championship. He also helped the Cards break into the top-20 of the rankings, finish fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season standings, and qualify for the NCAA Tournament in both seasons.
With the Cardinals woman's program, Coomer helped mentor the second-ranked and ITA national runner-up doubles team of Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine in 2013.
A 2013 graduate of Indiana University-Southeast with a degree in Spanish, Coomer played at number one in singles and doubles for the Grenadiers from 2008-12. He received All-Conference honors from the Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for three seasons from 2009-11 while being named KIAC Player of the Year for the 2010-11 season.
After his career at Indiana University-Southeast, Coomer played on the International Tennis Federation (ITF)/USTA professional tennis circuit.