Women's Tennis
- Title:
- Cornelia Drake and John Van Ryn Jr. '28 Assistant Coach of Tennis
Sara Anundsen, who won the NCAA Division I women's doubles title this past season while playing for North Carolina, has been named The Cornelia Drake and John Van Ryn Jr. ’28 assistant coach of women's tennis at Princeton.
Anundsen, who will assume her duties at Princeton later this summer, replaces Marc Lucero, who left after three seasons to return to his native California to continue his education.
Along with doubles partner Jenna Long, Anundsen was the winner of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Doubles Team of the Year Award after winning the NCAA championship in May. The pair won three-set matches in both the semifinals and finals of the NCAA tournament, including a come-from-behind 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over the No. 1 team in the nation from William & Mary in the championship match.
Anundsen and Long finished the season 29-6 overall as the Tarheels' No. 1 doubles team, and Anundsen also finished 20-13 in singles, playing mostly at the No. 4 spot, to lead the Tarheels to the NCAA Round of 16 in the team championship event.
"Sara is a perfect fit for the position because of her enthusiasm for coaching at Princeton and her recent experience as part of a top 10 college program," says Princeton head coach Kathy Sell. "She will add to the positive energy and momentum of our program, and her doubles experience will be a great asset to our doubles teams."
Anundsen and Long are expecting a wild card doubles entry into the main draw of the U.S. Open in August, and she will also participate in several exhibitions this summer with players such as Pete Sampras and John McEnroe. She graduated from North Carolina in May with a degree in Management and Society and Psychology, and she was an ACC All-Academic Team and ITA Scholar-Athlete team member in 2006.
In addition to her national championship 2007 season, she also earned All-America honors in 2006 after reaching the semifinals of the NCAA tournament and the finals of the ITA National Indoor Championships with Long. She also earned the Tarheels' team Most Valuable Player honors as a freshman in 2004, when she finished with a 29-9 record and was ranked as high as No. 65 nationally.
A native of Littleton, Colo., Anundsen was a three-time state singles champion while playing for Columbine High School. She was ranked No. 1 in the nation in the USTA 16-and-under division in 2001 and No. 2 in 2002 and ranked as high as No. 19 nationally in the Under-18 division in 2003. She won singles titles at the ITA Summer Sectionals and National Open in 2001 as well as at the Peach State and Gator Bowl tournaments.
