Maryland tennis hires Katie Dougherty as new head coach

Maryland officially has a new head coach of the tennis program.

Athletic director Damon Evans announced Tuesday that associate head coach Katie Dougherty has been promoted to head coach.

Dougherty served in the assistant role at Maryland for the past three years, and prior to that she was the head coach at the University of Iowa for seven years. In 2010, she led the Hawkeyes to the NCAA Championships and the highest ranking in program history (No. 18).

”We are extremely excited to name Kate Dougherty the head coach of our women’s tennis program,” Evans said in a press release. “We have been impressed Katie’s great player development skills and recruiting acumen over the past few seasons. That, combined with her past success as a head coach in the Big Ten, makes her a tremendous fit as the next leader of Maryland women’s tennis.”

Dougherty has been praised for her role with recruiting and player development that led to two Maryland All-Big Ten performers since being hired, but it’s going to take a lot to transform the program. The Terps finished with a 3-18 record last year, winning just one conference match. Over the past 15 years, the team has had two winning seasons, posting a total record of 127-201.

Dougherty is native to the state, growing up in Ellicott City before attending the University of Wisconsin. Prior to working at Iowa, she was an assistant coach at Wisconsin from 2007-09, at Penn State from 2004-07 and at American University from 2003-04.

“I feel so fortunate to join such an outstanding group of coaches, and a University and athletic department with a long-standing tradition of excellence,” Dougherty said in the release. “I am looking forward to working with this great group of student-athletes and building the program. We will be committed to excelling on the court, in the classroom and in the community.”