The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis Assistant Coach Receives Honors
6/21/1999 | Women's Tennis
May 27, 1998
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Ole Miss women's assistant tennis coach Kevin Cory has been named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Assistant Coach of the Year in an announcement made by the ITA Awards Committee. Cory was honored at the ITA Awards banquet Sunday, held in conjunction with the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships at the University of Notre Dame.
"It is a great honor to receive this award," Cory said. "In the two years that I've been at Ole Miss I've learned a great deal from head coach Jerry Montgomery, who is not only my boss but a great personal friend. It's been a pleasure working with this quality of a team."
The ITA Assistant Coach of the Year Award goes to a collegiate assistant coach for his or her contributions as an assistant to the game of tennis (coaching, teaching community and sportsmanship), as well as his or her team's performance during the current year and their coaching career. Last year Stanford's Lele Forood was the inaugural winner.
Cory, who is in his second year at Ole Miss, and head coach Jerry Montgomery, guided the Lady Rebels to a quarterfinal appearance at the NCAA Championships. Last Thursday Ole Miss defeated Arizona State 5-2 in the first round before falling to Duke in Friday's quarterfinals. The Lady Rebels completed the season at 17-6 and will finish in the top 10 of the Rolex Collegiate Rankings for the third year in a row.
"Kevin is very deserving of the National Assistant Coach of the Year award and he has made a great contribution to our program both on and off the court," Montgomery said. "A lot of trust exists between Kevin and myself and all of the players on our team."
Cory is the first Ole Miss player or coach to win one of the national ITA awards. The Lady Rebels have had six South Regional Award winners in the history of the program. Each year the ITA selects the five award winners from the six regional winners.
The other national award winners are: Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year Brian Kalbas, William & Mary; ITA Senior Player of the Year Lauren Nikolaus, William & Mary; ITA Player to Watch, Marissa Catlin, Georgia; and the ITA Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship Reka Cseresnyes, Arizona State.