Nick Mueller’s experience and enthusiasm combined to make him a strong candidate for the women’s tennis head coaching position at the University of Evansville, so strong that he now has the job.
Mueller signed a contract today to take over the position that opened earlier this summer when Christine Bader was hired as head coach at Ball State University. Mueller has been assistant women’s tennis coach the past four years at Virginia Tech University, where the Hokies have been an Intercollegiate Tennis Association Top 50 Team for three consecutive seasons.
“Nick has experience at a very high level program where he was involved with all aspects of the team operation, from recruiting to individual coaching,” according to UE Director of Athletics John Stanley, who has also served as assistant tennis coach the past five years. “Our team has improved, and it is our belief that Nick will be able to advance the program forward. He brings with him a strong work ethic, an excellent knowledge of tennis, and a history of working with Division I female tennis players who compete at the elite level of NCAA play. Nick will also be welcomed by those in the tennis community because he is very outgoing with a strong propensity to help grow the sport at all levels.”
Added Mueller, “I’m really excited to be coming to Evansville. This is my first head coaching job, and getting the chance to get back to the Midwest is great for me. I’ve been to Evansville before to visit friends, and it’s a great area, a great town. Geographically for tennis, I think it’s very good. There are a lot of plusses. I believe we can compete with the very best in the Missouri Valley Conference, and winning the league is not that far off. In terms of the near future, I’m really excited that we have an upperclassmen-based team. Because of our junior and senior leadership, they really know what to expect. I’ll be learning from them as much as they learn from me this year.”
Mueller is a 2002 graduate of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, where he was team captain for three seasons and played number one singles for two years. He served as volunteer assistant women’s tennis coach at Wisconsin-Madison in 2002-03, and then spent nearly three years as assistant men’s and women’s tennis coach at Longwood University in Farmville, Va. before taking the Virginia Tech coaching position in 2007. The Hokies were ranked as high as 37th nationally by the ITA in 2009. Virginia Tech earned the ITA All-Academic Team Award each of the past two seasons.
UE’s new coach takes over a veteran program that has risen from seventh to sixth to fifth place in the Missouri Valley Conference over the last three seasons. The Purple Aces were 12-8 overall and 3-4 in the MVC this spring. Junior Kate Chybowski earned first team all-MVC honors and was chosen as recipient of the Ida M. Stieler Award, presented annually to UE’s most outstanding female athlete. Chybowski led the MVC in winning percentage, finishing with a 16-2 record in the spring at number one singles. Like Virginia Tech, Evansville also earned the ITA All-Academic Team Award for compiling a team grade point average of 3.2 or better. In addition to Chybowski, the Aces return all other regulars from their 2009-10 lineup, including Dora Kotsiou, Pin Sorensen, Aleksandra Dzakula, Carolyn Caire and Ashton Schwerin.
