
Photo by: Greg Mintel
Secker Named Assistant Coach For Women's Tennis
7/17/2017 9:32:00 AM | Women's Tennis
RALEIGH – NC State women's tennis head coach Simon Earnshaw announced the addition of David Secker to his staff as an assistant coach on Monday.
Secker comes to Raleigh from California where he was the director of Advantage Tennis Academy in Irvine since 2013. ATA is a full time boarding tennis academy focused on the training and college preparation for top national and international junior players. His academy has placed players at several power five schools and maintained a 100 percent graduation rate.
Secker was responsible for the day-to-day duties for the academy, including on-court coaching, coordinating strength and conditioning programs, recruitment and education of new players and parents, mentoring, staff training and overseeing the college placement program.
Prior to his stint in California he served as an assistant coach for the men's and women's nationally-ranked programs at Armstrong Atlantic State from 2006-12 under Earnshaw.
"First and foremost, I would like to thank Simon, Michael Lipitz and Debbie Yow for the opportunity for both myself and my family to join the Wolfpack. It's a privilege to be joining a program and institution where I feel we can offer student athletes the highest academic standards while also competing in the ACC," said Secker.
"It almost goes without saying I have the upmost respect for Simon and what he has already achieved in his tenure at NC State. He has been a close mentor and friend of mine since the beginning of my college and coaching career. Simon speaks so highly of the players, the staff and the community as a whole in Raleigh that my wife and I could not be more excited to start this new chapter at NC State."
He was responsible for the recruitment, practices, strength and conditioning, academic scheduling and progress monitoring, game day and equipment management for the programs.
In his last five seasons at AASU the women's team went 150-6 overall and 26-2 in the NCAA Tournament, while the men's program was 135-8 overall and 18-3 in tournament play. He saw a combined seven national championships, as the women won the title three years in a row (2008, 09, 10), the men did twice (2008, 09) and the teams swept the tournament in 2012.
He saw a combined 10 Peach Belt Conference Championship titles and nine regular season titles, 40 PBC All-Conference and award winners, 32 All-Americans and 13 ITA All-Regional award winners.
On the women's side he additionally had players finish the season ranked No. 1 in singles and doubles from 2007-11, and an AASU player win the ITA NCAA II National Singles Championship title on four separate occasions.
"David was a huge part in at least seven of the NCAA Championships that we won at Armstrong," said Earnshaw. "It speaks volumes about how much NC State athletics and our own program have developed in just the past three years that we are able to make this happen. David's ability to develop high performance players and his connectivity with coaches is incredible, and his time outside college tennis has added to this tremendously. We're more than fortunate and I speak for everyone in and around the program that we are extremely excited to have David onboard."
AASU not only saw success under the duo of Earnshaw and Secker on the court but also in the classroom, as the programs were named ITA All-Academic Teams seven times and had a combined 34 Academic All-America selections.
Outside of coaching, he was an assistant professor at AASU in the department of physical education.
Secker graduated from Armstrong Atlantic in 2006 with a degree in psychology and with a Masters in public health in 2013. He played under Earnshaw from 2003-06 and compiled an 81-40 singles record, which ranks third all-time in program history. He and his team advanced to the NCAA Championship all four years while the squad advanced to the semifinals in 2005 and the sweet 16 in 2006.
The 26th-ranked Wolfpack finished the 2016-17 season with a 19-11 overall record, advancing to the round of 16 at the NCAA Tournament. The duo of Martina Frantova and Anna Rogers also etched themselves in the history books, as they were the first pairing to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Doubles Championships in program history, following their victory over Pepperdine.
Stay up to date with the latest on NC State women's tennis:
Twitter: @PackWTennis
Facebook: NC State Women's Tennis
Instagram: @PackWTennis
Secker comes to Raleigh from California where he was the director of Advantage Tennis Academy in Irvine since 2013. ATA is a full time boarding tennis academy focused on the training and college preparation for top national and international junior players. His academy has placed players at several power five schools and maintained a 100 percent graduation rate.
Secker was responsible for the day-to-day duties for the academy, including on-court coaching, coordinating strength and conditioning programs, recruitment and education of new players and parents, mentoring, staff training and overseeing the college placement program.
Prior to his stint in California he served as an assistant coach for the men's and women's nationally-ranked programs at Armstrong Atlantic State from 2006-12 under Earnshaw.
"First and foremost, I would like to thank Simon, Michael Lipitz and Debbie Yow for the opportunity for both myself and my family to join the Wolfpack. It's a privilege to be joining a program and institution where I feel we can offer student athletes the highest academic standards while also competing in the ACC," said Secker.
"It almost goes without saying I have the upmost respect for Simon and what he has already achieved in his tenure at NC State. He has been a close mentor and friend of mine since the beginning of my college and coaching career. Simon speaks so highly of the players, the staff and the community as a whole in Raleigh that my wife and I could not be more excited to start this new chapter at NC State."
He was responsible for the recruitment, practices, strength and conditioning, academic scheduling and progress monitoring, game day and equipment management for the programs.
In his last five seasons at AASU the women's team went 150-6 overall and 26-2 in the NCAA Tournament, while the men's program was 135-8 overall and 18-3 in tournament play. He saw a combined seven national championships, as the women won the title three years in a row (2008, 09, 10), the men did twice (2008, 09) and the teams swept the tournament in 2012.
He saw a combined 10 Peach Belt Conference Championship titles and nine regular season titles, 40 PBC All-Conference and award winners, 32 All-Americans and 13 ITA All-Regional award winners.
On the women's side he additionally had players finish the season ranked No. 1 in singles and doubles from 2007-11, and an AASU player win the ITA NCAA II National Singles Championship title on four separate occasions.
"David was a huge part in at least seven of the NCAA Championships that we won at Armstrong," said Earnshaw. "It speaks volumes about how much NC State athletics and our own program have developed in just the past three years that we are able to make this happen. David's ability to develop high performance players and his connectivity with coaches is incredible, and his time outside college tennis has added to this tremendously. We're more than fortunate and I speak for everyone in and around the program that we are extremely excited to have David onboard."
AASU not only saw success under the duo of Earnshaw and Secker on the court but also in the classroom, as the programs were named ITA All-Academic Teams seven times and had a combined 34 Academic All-America selections.
Outside of coaching, he was an assistant professor at AASU in the department of physical education.
Secker graduated from Armstrong Atlantic in 2006 with a degree in psychology and with a Masters in public health in 2013. He played under Earnshaw from 2003-06 and compiled an 81-40 singles record, which ranks third all-time in program history. He and his team advanced to the NCAA Championship all four years while the squad advanced to the semifinals in 2005 and the sweet 16 in 2006.
The 26th-ranked Wolfpack finished the 2016-17 season with a 19-11 overall record, advancing to the round of 16 at the NCAA Tournament. The duo of Martina Frantova and Anna Rogers also etched themselves in the history books, as they were the first pairing to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Doubles Championships in program history, following their victory over Pepperdine.
Stay up to date with the latest on NC State women's tennis:
Twitter: @PackWTennis
Facebook: NC State Women's Tennis
Instagram: @PackWTennis
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