COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- University of Maryland Director of Athletics Damon Evans announced Tuesday that Katie Dougherty has been named the tenth head coach of the Maryland women's tennis program. 
 
Dougherty assumes the head-coaching role after serving on the Maryland staff for the last three seasons, most recently as associate head coach. Prior to coming to College Park, Dougherty spent seven seasons as the head coach at the University of Iowa, where she led the 2010 squad to the NCAA Championships and helped the program achieve its highest ranking in program history (#18).
 
"We are extremely excited to name Kate Dougherty the head coach of our women's tennis program," Evans said. "We have been impressed Katie's great player development skills and recruiting acumen over the past few seasons. That, combined with her past success as a head coach in the Big Ten, makes her a tremendous fit as the next leader of Maryland women's tennis."    
 
Since her arrival in College Park, Dougherty has played a big part in recruiting and player development for the Terps. Maryland has featured two All-Big Ten performers since Dougherty's arrival and the 2017 recruiting class received votes in the top-25. 
 
"I would like to thank Damon Evans, Kristi Giddings and the rest of the search committee for this opportunity," Dougherty said. "I feel so fortunate to join such an outstanding group of coaches, and a University and athletic department with a long-standing tradition of excellence. I am looking forward to working with this great group of student-athletes and building the program. We will be committed to excelling on the court, in the classroom and in the community."
 
"I am grateful to Dasha for giving me the opportunity to bring my family back home to Maryland. Maryland is a very special place and I cannot wait to get to work leading our program to new levels of success."
 
At Iowa, Dougherty took the program to new heights. In addition to achieving a program high team ranking, she tutored five first-team All-Big Ten honorees and had two doubles teams qualify for the NCAA Championships. The Hawkeyes were ranked in the top-75 of the ITA poll and had single or doubles competitors in the national rankings in six for Dougherty's seven seasons at the helm. 
 
Dougherty recruited the 2017 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Elise Van Huevlen and produced a top-25 recruiting class in 2011. Four of Dougherty's charges turned professional after graduation.
 
A native of Ellicott City, Md., Dougherty has coached in the Big Ten for the majority of her career. She had stints as an assistant at Wisconsin (2007-09) and Penn State (2004-07) in addition to a local role as an assistant at American (2003-04). She also competed for Wisconsin, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in English in 2002. She graduated with a masters degree in education from Missouri in 2017.
 
Dougherty is married to former professional tennis player Sarah Borwell.  The couple have one son, Thomas, born June 2016.
 

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