Counting down less than a month before the tennis season begins, the men's and women's teams welcomed Coach Ellie Johnson to take over the program this last December.

As a former Concordia student-athlete, Johnson's impressive collegiate tennis career remains in the record books, ranking in the top 10 all-time with 33 career wins in singles play.

Johnson graduated from Concordia in 2015 with a bachelor's in Exercise Science. She stayed to earn her master's in Coaching and Athletic Administration while working as the tennis team's graduate assistant coach. Johnson spent six years coaching at Westmont, though she has been attached to Concordia as an adjunct professor since 2019.

"It was during my master’s that I really knew I wanted to be a coach, especially at the collegiate level," said Johnson. "College tennis coaching is a unique opportunity to make an individual sport a team sport."

Johnson was very successful while coaching at Westmont, earning the Golden State Athletics Conference Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2021.

In her return to the Concordia tennis program, Johnson said, "It feels as though the spark that was there when I was competing for Concordia has been fanned into a great flame and both teams are ready to take the program to the next level."

Senior Tiffany Carrillo has played a significant role in leading the women's team for the last four years of her collegiate career. "We've been pushing ourselves daily, striving to overcome different challenges and motivating each other," said Carrillo. "This commitment to facing obstacles together has strengthened our bond and contributed to our growth."

Johnson shares this commitment, "My number one goal is to get to know my players and begin to build relationships with each of them. I want to use this season to lay the foundation for the years to come in a way that will make way for the success we desire and can achieve."

Both men's and women's teams are looking toward a season of continued growth and success. "They have a strong desire to take the program to the next level and even within the first week, I have witnessed how they care for each other and genuinely enjoy the time on and off court together," said Johnson.

"Coach Johnson has been pushing us to become the best version of ourselves," said junior Alicia Da Re, "I believe her drive and no- nonsense attitude will help us with our physical and mental aspect of the game."

Carrillo said, "Coach Johnson's coaching approach is full of positivity, creating a motivating and encouraging environment that fuels our determination and commitment, especially as we aim for nationals."

Looking toward nationals, Johnson said, "Of course, my outcome goal for both programs this spring is to be top in the conference and make it to the national tournament."

“As a team, we're gearing up to overcome that stretch of making it to nationals and winning the conference," said Carrillo. "We've always been one step away from achieving it, but this year, we are ready to give it all we've got and make those goals a reality."

One of Johnson's goals involves the student body's participation, striving "to get more campus involvement in the tennis matches."

Support the men's and women's tennis teams! The first match of the season will be at Redlands on Feb. 3. The women's home opener is on Fri., Feb. 9., at 1 p.m. against Santa Clara. The men's home opener is the following day on Sat., Feb. 10., at 11:30 a.m.
against Caltech.

Tags: women's athletics, Men's Athletics, sports

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