Fresno State Athletics
Shields named ITA Northwest Coach of the Year
5/18/2019 3:43:00 PM | Men's Tennis
TEMPE, Ariz.– Fresno State men's tennis head coach Luke Shields was named the 2019 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Coach of the Year for the Northwest Region, the organization announced on Saturday.
"This is a great honor as there are a lot of fantastic coaches and great programs in our region," Shields said. "I think a lot of people respect what we've been able to build here over the last 3 years. This is completely a team effort. I have an amazing assistant in Steve who was a finalist for assistant coach of our region. Alec did a great job for us as well. The rest of our staff is amazing. We have great guys who really have bought in to what we are trying to build. They came together and really created a great bond over the last month of the season. The awards we have been receiving are due to collective efforts from everyone on this team and everyone connected to this team."
Shields is the first Fresno State coach since Jay Udwadia in 2012 to win this highly coveted award.Â
The national award winners will be announced on May 19.
Shields is in his fourth season at the helm of the program and was named the 2019 Mountain West Men's Tennis Coach of the Year earlier this month.Â
This season, Fresno State (18-11, 5-2 MW) won its first-ever Mountain West Championship and earned its first bid to the NCAA Tournament since 2012.Â
The Bulldogs entered the MW Championship as the No. 3 seed, making it three consecutive seasons that Fresno State has entered as the fourth seed or better. Fresno State blanked No. 6 Nevada 4-0 in the quarterfinals, before pulling off a 4-2 upset over No. 2 Utah State to advance to the championship match. Fresno State defeated No. 3 San Diego State 4-2 in a hard-fought championship match to hoist up the trophy in front of a home crowd. Â
Two Bulldogs received All-MW accolades in April, three total awards were taken home by Fresno State. Zdenek Derkaswas named the MW Player of the Year, Fresno State's first MW Player of the Year since joining the conference, after finishing conference play with a perfect 7-0 record at the No. 1 position. Derkas also earned All-MW Singles Team honors along with teammate Angus Bradshaw.Â
Fresno State has logged 18-plus wins for the third straight season this year. Throughout the last three years, the Bulldogs have owned a 16-5 record in league play and reached the MW championship in back-to-back seasons.Â
Shields was named the eighth head coach in the history of the Fresno State men's tennis program in 2015 after spending the previous two seasons as an associate head coach at his alma mater, Boise State, where he was a three-time collegiate All-American.
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Players Mentioned
