DeLAND—Former USF assistant and interim women's head coach, Kelly Anderson, has been named women's tennis head coach at Stetson, Director of Athletics Jeff Altier announced today.
In her two seasons with the Bulls, Anderson helped guide USF to a No. 33 national ranking, and an American Athletic Conference championship and subsequent NCAA Tournament appearance in 2014. Anderson became interim head coach last February, holding the position through the end of June.
“I am pleased to announce that Kelly Anderson has joined Stetson University as Head Women's Tennis Coach,” said Altier. “I was very impressed with Kelly's playing and coaching experience. Having been a top-caliber Division I athlete at an academically rigorous institution, Kelly is well suited to help guide our student-athletes and continue the tradition of combining academic and athletic excellence. I look forward to working with Kelly.”
Anderson was a four-year letter winner at Georgia Tech, garnering ACC Rookie of the Year honors in 2003 and becoming the first Tech women's tennis player to be so honored. She was a member of the All-ACC team in 2004. In 2003, Anderson ended the year ranked 28th in doubles and in 2006, completed the season 35th in singles. The Yellow Jackets won the ACC Tournament in both 2005 and 2006 while finishing the '06 season ranked sixth nationally.
Anderson, who begins her duties immediately, is understandably thrilled to be a Hatter.
“I'm very excited to be the new head coach at Stetson University,” she said. “This is a really good opportunity and I am extremely grateful that Jeff Altier and (Associate AD for Student Services) P.J. Moses (search committee chair) entrusted me with this position. I am looking forward to meeting the team in the next few days and getting to know them. I take very seriously the responsibility of making sure our student-athletes have a great college experience.”
Anderson has also had coaching stops at the University of Illinois (2013) and Campbellsville (2011-2012), where she coached both the men's and women's teams, before joining the staff at USF. In her one season at Illinois, the Illini finished the season ranked No. 45, and Anderson coached the All-American duo of Melissa Kopinski and Rachel White. At Campbellsville, she helped lead the Tigers to a National Christian College Athletic Association title in 2012 and led both the men's and women's teams to the Mid-South Conference championships the same year.
At Stetson, Anderson is replacing longtime coach Pierre Pilote, who spent 22 years working with Hatter tennis as both men's head coach and Director of Tennis. His success and Stetson's location were keys behind Anderson's interest.
“There's a tremendous foundation for success in place here and I'm looking forward to continuing the great work Pierre did,” she said. “Recruiting to Florida is an advantage and it's one of the things that made this job such an attractive one. Even though the program has had strong success over the years, I really feel like there's an opportunity to create something even more special here.”
From 2007 to 2010, Anderson was a touring professional on the both the ITF and WTA Tours, reaching as high as No. 135 in the WTA doubles world rankings.
As accomplished as she was on the court as a collegian, Anderson also excelled in the classroom. She was named to both the CoSIDA Academic All-District and ITA Scholar-Athlete teams during both her sophomore and junior seasons. She was named to the ACC All-Academic team all four years.
She graduated from Georgia Tech in 2006 with a degree in Management and Finance. She earned a Master's degree in Business Administration from Campbellsville in 2012.
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