Jay Louderback Position: Head Coach Alma Mater: Wichita State '76

When Jay Louderback took over as women's tennis head coach at Notre Dame in the fall of 1989, he inherited a program that had competed on the Division I level for just four years and had never participated in the NCAA tournament or earned a national ranking. As he enters his 19th season at the helm, Louderback has turned Notre Dame into one of the premier women's tennis programs in the nation.

The Irish have finished in the national top 30 in each of the last 15 seasons and have earned 14 berths to the NCAA Championship in that span. Notre Dame has captured 13 conference titles during Louderback's tenure and has reached the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament on seven occasions, including three appearances in the quarterfinals (1996, 2006, 2007). The Courtney Tennis Center has also served as host of the 1998 NCAA Championships, largely due to his efforts.

Notre Dame has posted its two best seasons in program history each of the last two years. The Irish finished 2007 with a 28-4 record and their second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The 28 victories was a school record, breaking the previous mark of 27 set during the 2005-06 campaign. Notre Dame upended 13 teams ranked in the top 25 and ended the season ranked seventh in the country (second highest in program history). Twins' Catrina and Christian Thompson earned All-American honors in doubles for the third straight year. Notre Dame went 14-1 against Midwest Region foes -- ending the season as the top school in the region for the second consecutive year (the only two times in school history).

Louderback's players have enjoyed great success under his tutelage. Nineteen Irish competitors have earned All-America honors, and four have garnered national awards from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). In 18 years, 22 Notre Dame players have garnered invitations to the NCAA Singles Championship and 15 doubles squads have gained berths into the NCAA Doubles Championship.

Louderback's players also have dominated University awards, winning the Francis Patrick O'Connor Award, given to one male and one female athlete each year who best embody the true spirit of Notre Dame, on seven occasions - more than any other sport. Louderback has had five winners of the Byron V. Kanaley Award, the most prestigious honor awarded to Notre Dame student-athletes, the most for any sport in the time since the Wichita State graduate arrived.

Another feature of Louderback's leadership is academic excellence. Since the ITA began awarding the All-Academic Team award to squads maintaining a 3.20 GPA for the year, the Irish have earned the distinction 11 times in 12 years. Only one Division I school, Western Michigan, has a better mark, as the Broncos have won the award all 11 years. In addition, Louderback's players have had a history of being named ITA Scholar-Athletes, which recognizes monogram winners who maintain a 3.50+ GPA for the year. In 2003, the first year the award was open to all classes (as opposed to only juniors and seniors being eligible), Notre Dame and the University of Evansville each had seven recipients, the most ever for one school in the 25-year history of the honor. He also has produced a pair of Academic All-Americans, and his squad posted a 3.552 combined grade-point average in the spring of 2004, the highest mark on record (since 1992) for any Irish team in a semester.

Louderback also has been decorated with nine conference coach-of-the-year awards, and five times he has been named Midwest Region Coach of the Year. He was awarded the Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year in 2006. Since 1996, the Irish have compiled a dominating 107-18 (.856) record against regional opponents.

In 28 years of coaching, Louderback holds a 541-330 (.621) record, including a 496-297 (.625) mark coaching women's tennis. At Notre Dame, he is 337-152 (.689), making him the winningest coach in program history. After guiding Notre Dame to a 17-8 record during his first year with the Irish in 1990, Louderback led the Irish to their first-ever national ranking the following season, finishing the year at 23rd after a 16-9 season. In individual action, Melissa Harris advanced to the second round of the NCAA Singles Championship, becoming the first player in school history to accomplish the feat.

The 1992-93 season saw the Irish earn their first berth to the NCAA Championship at the Division I level. Notre Dame shut out Alabama in the first round before falling to #2 Stanford to finish 18-8 and 19th in the nation. Wendy Crabtree and Lisa Tholen also became the first Irish team to earn a berth in the NCAA Doubles Championship.

In 1993-94, Notre Dame again earned a trip to the NCAA Championship and again fell to Stanford in the second round. Crabtree and Lisa Tholen advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship to become the first Irish All-Americans at the Division I level. Crabtree also earned singles All-America honors.

The 1994-95 season marked the last of seven consecutive Midwestern Collegiate Conference titles, including six under Louderback. Crabtree was a singles All-American for the second year in a row.

The 1996 Irish squad put together one of the best seasons in school history. Notre Dame won the BIG EAST title in its inaugural season in the league, advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals, compiled a 23-7 mark and finished with a No. 6 national ranking - the highest year-end listing in school history until last year. After defeating BYU in the round of 16, Notre Dame again saw its season ended by Stanford. During the regular season, the Irish defeated No. 5 Texas, which still stands as the highest-ranked opponent to fall victim to Notre Dame.

Crabtree finished her career by becoming the first women's tennis player to earn Academic All-America honors. Freshman Jennifer Hall completed an outstanding season, winning the BIG EAST Championship Most-Outstanding-Player award in addition to being named the Penn National Player to Watch. Hall also became the first Irish player to advance to the round of 16 of the NCAA Singles Championship, which assured her singles All-America honors. Following the season, Hall was selected for the USA Tennis Summer Collegiate Team.

After playing host to early-round NCAA action in 1997, the `98 season saw the NCAA Championships come to Notre Dame. Hall and Tiffany Gates, spurned on by a hometown crowd, advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship. Freshman Michelle Dasso stepped in for the Irish at No. 2 singles and finished with a 40-8 record, setting a new all-time mark for singles wins in a campaign.

Louderback's `99 Irish won the program's third BIG EAST championship and posted wins over ninth-ranked Wake Forest and No. 9 William & Mary. Notre Dame finished with a final national ranking of No. 15. Hall completed her career by breaking the 13-year-old school record for career singles wins and also added Academic All-America honors, as well as her third straight athletic All-America distinction. She again advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship, this time with Dasso, who was named to the USA Tennis Summer Collegiate Team.

The 2000 Irish delivered a second straight 23-7 season and advanced to the national site of the NCAA Championship for the first time since `96, finishing with a final ranking of 13th. On April 15, 2000, Louderback registered his 400th career win with a victory over Miami.

Louderback's teams continued their strong regular-season performances, as the 2001 squad posted a 20-win season for the fourth consecutive year, with a 25-5 record - the best mark for the Irish under Louderback and the best mark since beginning play at the Division I level in 1985-86. Ranked 10th in the final ITA poll, the Irish advanced to the NCAA round of 16 for the second consecutive year and were ranked as high as No. 5 during the regular season - the highest ranking in school history.

Four-time All-American Dasso, who joined Louderback's staff as an assistant coach prior to the 2003-04 season, became the first Irish player to be named the ITA National Senior Player of the Year and qualified for the NCAA singles tournament for the fourth time. She capped off the best season for an Irish women's tennis player when she reached at least the semifinals in three of the four ITA grand-slam events. She became the first Notre Dame player to reach a grand-slam final, at the now-defunct National Clay Court Championships and made it to the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championship. Dasso teamed with Becky Varnum in doubles at the 2001 NCAA Doubles Championship for the second consecutive year in her third straight doubles appearance.

After a top-25 season in '02, the Irish won another BIG EAST title in 2003 and finished 21st nationally. The `04 season saw Notre Dame knock off #14 VCU to snap the Rams' 38-match regular-season winning streak and 40-match home winning streak, while the Irish went on to finish 27th in the country.

The 2004-05 campaign was marked by the outstanding play of sophomore twins Catrina and Christian Thompson, who reached the title match of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships and the semis of the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships en route to being the first squad in Irish history to reach the national #1 ranking in doubles. The team earned another top-25 finish, as well.

Despite a loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament, Notre Dame's appearance in the `05 event assured that 19 consecutive classes, dating from 1990 through 2008, will have made at least one trip to the NCAA national event - a range of classes that includes every freshman since five-time BIG EAST coach-of-the-year Louderback arrived at Notre Dame.

In recognition of Louderback's effort and success, Notre Dame's Monogram Club bestowed upon him an honorary monogram in 1998. He joined an elite group of six current Notre Dame head coaches at that time to have been awarded an honorary monogram.

In 2006, Louderback and the Irish enjoyed their greatest season in program history to date. Notre Dame went 27-2 and climbed as high as No. 2 en route to the NCAA quarterfinals. The Irish finished the season fifth in the ITA Rankings, the highest final ITA ranking since becoming a Division I program in 1985-86. After finishing 24th in 2005, ND was 22nd in the preseason before moving into the top five for good on Feb. 28.

The Irish were the top-ranked team in the ITA's Midwest Region for the first time since 1999-2000.

Prior to coming to Notre Dame, Louderback headed the men's and women's tennis programs at Iowa State for three years. He led the men's squad to a 45-33 mark and the women's team to a 37-51 record from 1986-89. In his final season with the Cyclones, Louderback's men's team finished fourth in the Big Eight, Iowa State's highest conference finish in 25 years. The Cyclones' top player finished fifth in the regional voting for the NCAA tournament.

Louderback began his coaching career at his alma mater, taking the helm of the Wichita State women's program in just its fifth year of competition.

He guided the Shockers to a 122-94 record in seven years, including two Gateway Conference championships (1984 and 1986) and a Missouri Valley Conference title (1982). Five of his seven teams either won a conference championship or finished as runners-up. During his tenure, the Shockers won 14 or more matches each season while 10 of his players qualified for postseason competition. Two of his players qualified for the NCAA Championships in both the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons.

The 1980-81 Shockers set a school record with 21 wins, as the team earned its first postseason berth. The 21-win plateau was reached again the following season when Wichita State captured the MVC and Region IV championships.

Louderback was voted 1982 Region IV Coach of the Year for his team's outstanding accomplishments.

A native of Arkansas City, Kan., Louderback was an assistant tennis professional at the Riverside Tennis Center in Wichita, Kan., and head tennis professional at the Y Tennis Center in Battle Creek, Mich., before taking the coaching position at Wichita State.

Louderback, who earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Wichita State in 1976, won a Missouri Valley Conference title at No. 3 singles during his senior year. For his efforts that season, Louderback was voted most valuable player by his teammates.

In April, 2003, the Louderback family was honored by the USTA with the Tennis Family of the Year Award, presented to one family consisting of USTA members and volunteers who have excelled in advancing the USTA's mission to promote and grow the game of tennis both on and off the court. He and his wife, Denise, have one daughter, Bailey, who is a junior on the Irish.