Eastern Michigan Athletics
Tennis
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- rray4@emich.edu
- Phone:
- 734.487.2244
rray4@emich.edu
The 2010-11 season marks the fifth season Ryan Ray as Head Women's Tennis Coach at Eastern Michigan University. Ray (6-4-75) most recently was head coach of the men’s tennis program at Indiana State University, leading them to an undefeated regular season conference championship and a second place finish in the conference tournament while earning Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2005.
Last season, Ray led a young Eagles team into a very tough non-conference schedule, with matches against three Big Ten teams (Iowa, Purdue and Michigan State), as well as several ranked teams including No. 42 San Diego State University, No. 46 Long Beach State and No. 48 Nebraska. Eastern had had just one player with more than one year of experience going into the season (junior Xu Chang)). Of the eight women on the roster, five were sophomores, two were freshmen and Chang was the lone junior.
Despite facing the uphill battles of an inexperienced squad and an extremely challenging schedule, the Eagles finished the year with a respectable 8-14 record and plenty of things to build on for the 2011 campaign. Miriam Westerink proved to be a pivitol part in the team's success, as the sophomore posted a team best record of 22-12. Chang also had a winning mark at 19-17, while another sophomore, Marcela Rivero, posted a .500 record, going 14-14. The Eagles also scored a signature win over the previosly unbeaten Syracuse Orange.
The 2009 season was a transition year for the young team as it was comprised of five freshmen, one sophomore and Joanna Woo as the lone senior. Finishing with a 5-16 overall mark and 2-6 in the Mid-American Conference (7th in the MAC), Ray's team gained valuable experience and established a solid core. Additionally, the team received Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team honors by posting an overall team GPA of 3.40.
In 2008, the Eagles had their best conference finish under Ray, finishing with an overall record of 9-13 and a 5-3 MAC mark, to finish tied for third in the regular season. Vanessa Frankowski posted an overall record of 24-12 in 2008, including a 15-6 dual match and 8-1 MAC mark (regular and post season). She ended the year on a seven match win streak, including nine of the last 10. She totaled 33 wins (singles and doubles) in 2007-08. She recorded victories as the eagles defeated No. 56 Bowling Green and ending their 11-match season-opening win streak. She was a three time MAC Player of the week in 2008 (five total career honors) for the periods ending Feb. 19, March 18 and April 8. She also was named a MAC Scholar-Athlete of the Week in 2007. She was also named a CoSIDA second-team All-District selection.
Additionally, six out of the seven athletes on the 2007-08 roster were named ITA Scholar-Athletes. The team was also named All-Academic.
The 2007 season saw the Eagles finish with an overall record of 12-11 and 4-4 Mid-American Conference tournament record. Frankowski finished with a 29-7 record (7-1 MAC) and was named the 2007 MAC Player of the Year, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
Ray will look to bring his recruiting talents to EMU, which he showed, impressively at Indiana State, by starting with a roster of two players and producing a team consisting of four players ranked in the top 200 in the world in junior play and a junior college All-American. Two of those players had multiple years of Davis Cup experience in their native countries. Ray also coached two doubles teams to national rankings as high as No. 43 and No. 54 during the 2005 season.
During the 2002 and 2003 seasons Ray was the assistant men’s and women’s tennis coach at Saint Louis University. Ray helped the Saint Louis women’s team to its best Conference USA tournament finish in six seasons, and the men’s program improved its regional ranking from 13th to 5th.
During the 2001 season, Ray served as the assistant men’s and women’s tennis coach at the University of Northern Iowa. While mainly responsible for the women’s program, he helped them reach a 15-5 record and a No. 68 national ranking, the first in school history.
During the 1999 and 2000 seasons, Ray spent time as a volunteer coach at the University of Oklahoma where they obtained a No. 30 national ranking and No. 1 ranking in the central region.
A four-year letterman at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Ray was a member of the 1997 NCAA Div. II Regional qualifying team and received the 1997 Nebraska Collegiate Male Sportsmanship Award.
Ray received Bachelor of Science degrees in Sports Administration and Business Administration from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in 1998. He earned his Master of Science in Sport Management from the University of Oklahoma in 2000.
Ray currently resides in Ann Arbor, Mich.
|
Ray's |
Coaching |
Record |
|
|
Year (School) |
Overall |
Conference |
Notes |
|
2009-10 (EMU |
8-14 |
2-6 (6th) |
NCAA Public Recognition Awards for Academic Progress Rates |
|
2008-09 (EMU) |
5-16 |
2-6 (7th) |
ITA All-Academic Team award (3.40 team GPA) |
|
2007-08 |
9-13 |
5-3 (T-3rd) |
Vanessa Frankowski--First-team All-MAC |
|
2006-07 (EMU) |
12-11 |
4-4 (T-4th) |
Vanessa Frankowski--NCAA Qualifier, MAC Player of the Year |
|
2004-05 (ISU) |
15-9 |
7-0 (1st) |
MVC Coach of the Year |
|
2003-04 (ISU) |
8-17 |
6-2 (3rd) |
|
|
Totals |
57-80 |
26-21 |
34-54 (13-19 MAC) record while at EMU |
