Martin Perry, three-time NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year, has been named the new head coach of the Bridgewater College men’s and women’s tennis programs in an announcement made by President George Cornelius and Director of Athletics Curt Kendall. Perry has spent the last eight-plus years as the head men’s and women’s coach at national power, The University of Chicago.
“We are thrilled to have a coach and athlete of Martin Perry’s stature join our ranks,” said Cornelius. “Marty has proven his success in recruiting and coaching at the national level and we look forward to the positive impact he will have on the tennis programs at Bridgewater.”
Perry brings a laundry list of accolades to Bridgewater, including being named the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division III Women’s Tennis National Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2010 and being named the National Coach of the Year on the men’s side by the college tennis governing body this past season.
“Acquiring Marty Perry as our head men’s and women’s tennis coach is a great hire for Bridgewater College and our tennis programs. His incredible success at the Division III level and his recruiting accomplishments completely speak for themselves,” said Kendall. “He operated a top-notch athletic program at the University of Chicago and accomplished a lot at a highly competitive academic institution. We believe that Marty’s hiring provides us with an opportunity to expand our recruiting base and we are confident he will continue to move our already successful tennis programs to the next level.”
In 2011, Perry coached University of Chicago women’s tennis player Kendra Higgins to the NCAA finals in singles, and led the Maroons women’s team to a fourth place finish in the NCAA Championships for the third straight season. Higgins teamed up with Chrissy Hu on the doubles side to claim back-to-back NCAA titles in 2009 and 2010.
Perry also led the men’s team to an unbelievable turnaround during his first season in the Windy City. Following a 7-16 campaign in 2003-04, under Perry’s tutelage, the Maroons improved by 11 wins to an 18-9 overall mark in 2004-05 and earned the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament berth.
In the highly competitive University Athletic Association (UAA), Perry coached four-straight UAA Rookie of the Year recipients and dethroned national power Emory University in 2010 when the Maroons women claimed the UAA championship. This marked the first time in more than two decades that Emory did not claim the conference crown.
Overall, Perry coached 15 All-Americans during his time at the University of Chicago and turned in the nation’s number-one-ranked women’s recruiting class at the Division III level in 2008, according to tennisrecruiting.com. In 2010, Perry’s men’s recruiting class was ranked third in the nation at the Division III level.
During the last two years, Perry has been the director of the Maroon Tennis Academy in Chicago where he has implemented and directed adult and junior tennis programs in the Windy City in conjunction with the University of Chicago athletic department.
Prior to his time with the Maroons, Perry was the head men’s and women’s tennis coach for one year at Division I Colgate University. During his lone season with the Raiders, he coached the men’s and women’s teams to winning records and earned wins over Patriot League rivals American, Bucknell, Lehigh and Lafayette. On the men’s side, Perry’s squad defeated then-Big East foe Boston College.
Perry opened his collegiate coaching career with a nearly four-year stint at the College of William & Mary as an assistant on the men’s team. During his time with the Pride, Perry assisted with the day-to-day operation of a William & Mary squad that was consistently in the top 50 of Division I men’s tennis. In 1999 and 2000, Perry served as the assistant director of the ITA Summer National Championships in Williamsburg.
Aside from his collegiate coaching acumen, Perry has been an active member with Nike Tennis Camps, boasting nine years of experience with the camps at William and Mary and the University of Minnesota.
Perry earned his Professional Tennis Registry professional rating in 1994 and completed the USTA High Performance program in January of 2006 in Boca Raton, Fla.
Perry received his bachelor of arts in history from Cleveland State University in 1998.
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