Maryland Hires New Women's Tennis Coach
8/21/2001 8:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Aug. 21, 2001
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Martin Novak has been named women's tennis coach at the University of Maryland. Novak recently guided the University of Minnesota women's tennis team to six consecutive winning seasons. He joins current Terrapins tennis coach Jim Laitta who will now concentrate his efforts on guiding the Maryland men's team.
Novak took over the Minnesota program in 1990, after five years as head coach at the University of Arkansas. He led the Gophers to four appearances in the NCAA Championships, and from 1996-2000 lifted Minnesota to distinction as the only women's tennis team to boast a winning Big Ten record in each of those five seasons. He was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year following a 7-3 conference finish during the 2000 season, and a trip to the league's championship finals.
"We are fortunate to have hired such an accomplished collegiate coach in Martin Novak," said athletics director Deborah A. Yow. "Martin achieved an outstanding record at two major Division I institutions, and his success at this elite level can lift our program to contention in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Our search committee, chaired by Jane Mullens, did an outstanding job."
Said Novak, "Obviously I am very proud to become a part of the Terrapins' coaching staff. Maryland has an outstanding reputation and I will do my best to prepare the women's tennis program for national prominence. It's a great opportunity."
In 11 years at Minnesota, Novak compiled a 126-118 record against a number of the toughest opponents in the country. His 1999 team finished the Big Ten schedule with an 8-2 record, the best in school history, and its best league finish in school history, a second-place tie with Wisconsin. One year later, Novak's team earned its first berth in the Big Ten tournament's championship match, falling to Northwestern, 4-3, in a match that took five-and-a-half hours to complete. Novak was honored as the league's coach of the year.
In 1997, he guided the Gophers to their highest national ranking in school history, No. 28. The team matched that ranking during the 2000 campaign. He also was successful in coaching three different singles players to individual contention in the NCAA Championships: Naura Sauska in 1997, Dana Peterson in 1996, and Tiffany Gates in 1995. Sauska also became Minnesota's first four-time All-Big Ten performer.
At Arkansas, he compiled a record of 71-45 while leading the Razorbacks to the Southwest Conference semifinals twice. His 1990 squad finished second.
A native of Czechoslovakia, Novak moved with his family to Sweden when he was six years old. He earned an engineering degree from a college in Sweden. From there he moved to the United States to attend Central Florida Community College for two years. Novak then attended Texas Christian University, where in 1984 he earned a bachelor's degree in education with a concentration in kinesiology. He attended the University of Arkansas and received a master's degree in physical education in 1988 with a concentration in sports management.
Novak played collegiate tennis at Central Florida Community College, where he reached the junior college national semifinals at the No. 2 singles spot in 1981. He was a member of the NJCAA champion team in 1981 and went on to play two seasons with Texas Christian's program as a co-captain. In 1980 he reached the quarterfinals of the Swedish School National Championships and also played on the Swiss circuit in the summer of 1983.
