Fresno State Athletics
Experienced Epley to Lead the Bulldogs
9/27/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
If experience is indeed considered the best teacher, then class is now in session for Fresno State's women's tennis team.
The newest addition to the FS coaching staff is Kevin Epley, who was recently named the new women's tennis coach. Epley, 28, served as an assistant coach at the University of Arizona last season after a short stint at the University of Alabama the year before.
It's not hard to see why the accomplished Epley should be a perfect match for a Bulldogs program that finished last season ranked No. 37 (16-9 overall). In addition to his collegiate coaching experience, Epley has quite an impressive background within the professional ranks. Epley has been working as an assistant to Billie Jean King with the United States Federation Cup team since 1996, and has toured with Lindsay Davenport and Patty Schnyder on the Women's Tennis Association as a personal traveling coach. Epley has also spent time as an instructor at the famous Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida, where he served as a practice partner for Anna Kournikova and Monica Seles. During summers, he runs a tournament training camp in Menton, France, for ranked junior players who want to get European experience playing on clay and tour Europe at the same time.
"In the short period I've been coaching, I've developed a passion for it and have had a lot of success," explained Epley. "That experience, I think, will translate to the players."
Epley was All-Southwestern Conference at SMU and graduated in 1995. After college, he was offered a job by a teammate's brother, who was the director of tennis at Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy, to coach a young female tennis player, thus kicking off his coaching career. The Baltimore, Md., native then started assisting King, whom he describes as his biggest tennis influence, with the Federation Cup team, comprised of players such as Davenport, Mary Joe Fernandez, Lisa Raymond, Seles, and Serena and Venus Williams. Epley later would come to the conclusion that he wanted to be coaching college tennis.
"I just love college sports," he said. "I love the idea of building a program as opposed to flying by the seat of my pants with professional players. And I knew to get my foot in the door in college tennis you pretty much have to be an assistant somewhere, so I started looking around."
In 1998, he landed the assistant coaching job at Alabama, then moved on to Arizona one year later, where he helped lead the Wildcats to a No. 21 national ranking and an appearance in the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament. However, when Epley attended last fall's Bulldog Classic Tournament at Fresno State, he immediately liked what he saw.
"I was impressed with the energy here, the support, how many fans were coming to the matches. Just the fact that everyone seemed very involved and the community seemed so involved was really neat. This was inconsequently the only job I really went after."
Epley's experience and energetic coaching demeanor should prove to be a valuable combination as he begins to work with this year's squad. He will be working with five returning players, including junior All-American Kim Niggemeyer and three recruits (one transfer and two freshmen). Despite the transition in coaching and the unfamiliarity of a new school, Epley remains confident that this year's squad will be a dangerous one.
"One thing I like to stress is individual development within a team atmosphere. I do a lot of individual lessons with each player and then bring it together with a team practice. We have a lot of talent at the top and some developmental potential as well."
Epley would also like to see Fresno State beef up their schedule.
"It's as tough right now as most Pac-10 schools because of our proximity to Pac-10 schools in California, but I'm looking to play all the Pac-10 schools. That's one thing I want to do in years to come."
Epley replaces coach Corbin Archer, who announced in May he would not be returning. Under Archer, the Bulldogs went 16-9 and lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament to eventual runner-up Stanford. Archer was filling in on an interim basis for Irene Harris, who guided Fresno State to a 175-110 record in her 10-year tenure. Harris decided last spring she would not be returning to FS as coach.
