July 19, 2007

Shultz Named Tennis Coach

Longtime Tennis Instructor

        Kearney, Neb. –  Nebraska-Kearney athletic director Jon McBride announced today that Kent Shultz is the Lopers' new men's and women's tennis coach.

      He replaces Jesse Plote, who resigned in May to accept a position at the Nebraska Tennis Center in Lincoln.

      "Nebraska-Kearney men's and women's tennis and the Kearney tennis community will be served very well by Kent Shultz, who brings a tremendous passion for the sport and years of experience in teaching the game," said McBride.

      Shultz has twenty five years in tennis management and tennis instruction. He also is a lifetime USTA member, a member of the U.S. Professional Tennis Association and the U.S. Professional Tennis Registry.  

      Since April of 1999, he has served as the junior competition/high performance director for the Missouri Valley Section of U.S. Tennis Association (Topeka, Kans.), overseeing all junior tournaments.  Shultz also managed the day to day operations of the high performance and junior competition. Shultz is also one of the U.S. Tennis Professionals to have been selected to take part in high performance coaching workshop and passed the course.

      He also has been a tennis director and tennis professional for the Topeka and Memphis (Tenn.) Parks and Recreation Departments.

      "I'm looking forward to coaching and teaching tennis at the college level as well as serving the Kearney Community with my tennis knowledge and teaching expertise," said Shultz. "Jesse was certainly a class act and I hope to build on the great start."

      Shultz earned a B.S. degree in Biology from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., where he was the Bearcats' No. 1 singles player.

      The UNK men have won the last three RMAC regular season titles and made four straight NCAA Tournament appearances. The Loper women won 11 duals last year and were ranked in the North Central Region.