Zieziula Hired as Head Men?s Tennis Coach
7/16/2010 4:55:00 PM | Men's Tennis
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern University Director of Athletics Sam Baker announced the hiring of Nick Zieziula as the head coach of Eagles' men's tennis program. Zieziula (pronounced za-ZOO-la), who was a four-year letterwinner at The State University of New York at Buffalo, served as the assistant men's tennis coach at the University of Central Florida for the past two years.
“The dedication and hard work Nick put into being an assistant coach at both Buffalo and the University of Central Florida impressed us as well as his desire to become a Division I head coach. We are extremely excited about Nick and what he will bring to our program with his outstanding background as a player and coach. I'm sure our student-athletes will enjoy working with him as we prepare for the 2010-2011 tennis season,” Baker said.
In his second season at UCF, Zieziula played an instrumental role in helping the Knights record ample time in the national rankings – ranking as high as No. 61 in early March – and earn the program's best tournament seed (No. 3) in the Conference USA league tournament. Facing a tough competitive spring schedule that included eight nationally ranked squads, the Knights posted a 12-8 record and witnessed senior Brock Sakey earn a spot on the All-C-USA First Team. During the 2010 campaign, Sakey became the winningest singles player in UCF history, capping his collegiate career with 85 singles victories. Sakey was named to the All-C-USA Second Team in 2009 and was the C-USA Freshman of the Year in 2006.
In two seasons at UCF, Zieziula also tutored three doubles tandems and a singles player to Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national rankings. Blaze Schwartz and Marc Rocafort earned their highest ranking as a doubles team on January 5, 2010, taking the No. 21 spot in the country. In addition, Joe Delinks was nationally ranked in doubles with both Sakey (2009) and Eugene Dolgovykh (2010). Claudio Romano ranked 81st in the nation in the initial spring 2009 rankings.
In both his seasons at UCF, Zieziula oversaw the academic progress of the team's student-athletes. In 2010, five Knights garnered C-USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll status and in 2009, four players received conference academic honor roll recognition.
“I would like to thank Sam Baker, Cathy Beene, Jeff Blythe and everyone in Georgia Southern Athletics for giving me this opportunity,” said Zieziula. “Throughout the interview process, I was really impressed by how the department operated like a family and that influenced my view of the position. The Men's Tennis program at Georgia Southern has tremendous potential to be extremely competitive in the conference and compete for championships immediately, which is what drew me to the program. I am honored to have been chosen to lead the team and I look forward to getting to Statesboro to start working with our players.”
Before joining the athletic department at Central Florida, Zieziula was the assistant men's tennis coach at his alma mater for three seasons. Working directly with the head coach, Zieziula played an active role in the recruitment process, scheduling, practice plans, travel, monitoring academic progress, and was also responsible for video analysis and day-to-day operations.
Zieziula spent two years at the Village Glen Tennis Club in Williamsville, N.Y., as an Assistant High Performance Program Teaching instructor and served as the Director of the High Performance Program from October 2007 to June 2008.
A 2005 University at Buffalo graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and minor in anthropology, Zieziula held UB records for career singles wins, career doubles wins and single season singles and doubles wins at the time of graduation. The three-time team captain won the UB men's tennis Most Outstanding Player award and was named a Second Team Mid-American Conference selection in 2005. He was a member of the All-Mid-American Conference Academic team in 2004 and received the UB Service Excellence Award twice (2003 and 2004) and Coaches Award in 2004.
“The dedication and hard work Nick put into being an assistant coach at both Buffalo and the University of Central Florida impressed us as well as his desire to become a Division I head coach. We are extremely excited about Nick and what he will bring to our program with his outstanding background as a player and coach. I'm sure our student-athletes will enjoy working with him as we prepare for the 2010-2011 tennis season,” Baker said.
In his second season at UCF, Zieziula played an instrumental role in helping the Knights record ample time in the national rankings – ranking as high as No. 61 in early March – and earn the program's best tournament seed (No. 3) in the Conference USA league tournament. Facing a tough competitive spring schedule that included eight nationally ranked squads, the Knights posted a 12-8 record and witnessed senior Brock Sakey earn a spot on the All-C-USA First Team. During the 2010 campaign, Sakey became the winningest singles player in UCF history, capping his collegiate career with 85 singles victories. Sakey was named to the All-C-USA Second Team in 2009 and was the C-USA Freshman of the Year in 2006.
In two seasons at UCF, Zieziula also tutored three doubles tandems and a singles player to Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national rankings. Blaze Schwartz and Marc Rocafort earned their highest ranking as a doubles team on January 5, 2010, taking the No. 21 spot in the country. In addition, Joe Delinks was nationally ranked in doubles with both Sakey (2009) and Eugene Dolgovykh (2010). Claudio Romano ranked 81st in the nation in the initial spring 2009 rankings.
In both his seasons at UCF, Zieziula oversaw the academic progress of the team's student-athletes. In 2010, five Knights garnered C-USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll status and in 2009, four players received conference academic honor roll recognition.
“I would like to thank Sam Baker, Cathy Beene, Jeff Blythe and everyone in Georgia Southern Athletics for giving me this opportunity,” said Zieziula. “Throughout the interview process, I was really impressed by how the department operated like a family and that influenced my view of the position. The Men's Tennis program at Georgia Southern has tremendous potential to be extremely competitive in the conference and compete for championships immediately, which is what drew me to the program. I am honored to have been chosen to lead the team and I look forward to getting to Statesboro to start working with our players.”
Before joining the athletic department at Central Florida, Zieziula was the assistant men's tennis coach at his alma mater for three seasons. Working directly with the head coach, Zieziula played an active role in the recruitment process, scheduling, practice plans, travel, monitoring academic progress, and was also responsible for video analysis and day-to-day operations.
Zieziula spent two years at the Village Glen Tennis Club in Williamsville, N.Y., as an Assistant High Performance Program Teaching instructor and served as the Director of the High Performance Program from October 2007 to June 2008.
A 2005 University at Buffalo graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and minor in anthropology, Zieziula held UB records for career singles wins, career doubles wins and single season singles and doubles wins at the time of graduation. The three-time team captain won the UB men's tennis Most Outstanding Player award and was named a Second Team Mid-American Conference selection in 2005. He was a member of the All-Mid-American Conference Academic team in 2004 and received the UB Service Excellence Award twice (2003 and 2004) and Coaches Award in 2004.
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