Chapman Tabbed ITA Central Region Coach of the Year

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas women’s tennis head coach Todd Chapman was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region Coach of the Year Tuesday after leading the Jayhawks to their first NCAA Championship bid in 17 years. Chapman picked up the honor a day after freshman Anastasiya Rychagova was tabbed the ITA Central Regional Freshman of the Year.

“The way I look at is, this is not only an honor for me, but for our entire coaching staff,” said Chapman. “I believe I have the best assistant coach in the country in Caroline Lilley and I think I have one of the top strength and conditioning coaches in the country in Glenn Cain. All of the hard work, effort, dedication and commitment to our program the girls have put forth made it easy for me get this type of award. It’s their work, maybe my name is on it, but its an award we all share.”
 
Chapman, who is in his third season at the helm of the Jayhawk program, led Kansas to a second-place finish in the Big 12 Conference standings, which marked the Jayhawks’ highest finish since placing second in the league in both 1997 and 1998. Kansas posted a 6-3 ledger in conference matches, marking their most Big 12 wins since picking up six during the 2008 campaign.
 
Chapman, who has his Jayhawks ranked No. 32 in the latest ITA standings, has guided KU to a 17-7 overall mark–its most wins since posting a 21-6 ledger in the 1998 season. Additionally, KU advanced to the semifinals of the 2016 Big 12 Championship for the first time since 2002, where they fell to eventual-champion, Oklahoma State.
 
Kansas will travel to the No. 1 overall seed California for the first two rounds of 2016 NCAA Championship play. The Jayhawks are the two seed in their pod and will face the No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara, while Cal will take on No. 4 seed University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). Kansas and UCSB will face off at 12 p.m. (CT), followed by the Cal-UTRGV match at 3 p.m. (CT).  The two winners will match up at 5 p.m. (CT), on Saturday, May 14.
 
Kansas’ last appearance in the NCAA Championship came in 1999, where the Jayhawks defeated New Mexico, 5-3, in the first round, before falling to Duke, 5-0, in the second round. KU will be making the program’s eighth NCAA Tournament appearance, but its first in 17 years.
 
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