TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Jenny Mainz, in her 26th season as The University of Alabama’s head women’s tennis coach, will retire following the 2022-23 season, the Blue Gray Hall of Famer, ITA National Coach of the Year and three-time Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year announced Friday.
“I am extremely proud of what we have been able to accomplish here at Alabama,” Mainz said. “I have been blessed to work with extraordinary student-athletes, coaches, staff and administrators who shared my passion and love for this program and this University. I feel this is the best job in the country and this program has been supported at the highest levels throughout my time at the Capstone. As a program, we have always worked extremely hard and with great dedication to be the very best we can be, and the results of our combined efforts have been incredible. While I still love what I do, what has been my calling for the last 30-plus years, I shared with Greg Byrne, our Director of Athletics, earlier this week that I feel this is the right time to turn the page on this chapter of my life.”
Mainz has led Alabama to a program record 315 dual-match wins heading into the Tide’s SEC opener this Sunday at 12 p.m. CT against in-state rival Auburn down on the Plains.
“We can’t begin to express our gratitude to Jenny for the way she and her program have represented The University of Alabama,” Director of Athletics Greg Byrne said. “Team-by-team, she has built an outstanding program, one that excels on the court, in the classroom and in the community. We are extremely proud of all she has accomplished over the past 26-years through her amazing work ethic, positive outlook and great passion for her sport and the Crimson Tide. We are excited to see where the future takes her and will always count her among this department’s great leaders.”
Alabama women’s tennis had been to the NCAA tournament twice prior the Texas native coming on board, making it in as an alternate in 1993, and again in 1997.
Alabama then hired Mainz and the program took off into the upper echelons of collegiate tennis, earning 15 NCAA tournament appearances heading into the 2022-23 season, the Crimson Tide’s first Southeastern Conference Championships in 2014, four SEC Western Division titles and a trio of NCAA Doubles Championship finals that resulted in national titles, along with numerous All-America and All-SEC honors on the court.
That’s not to say that the road was…
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