Groce Named UCO Tennis Coach

9/25/2014 3:31:00 PM

Cari Groce

EDMOND (Sept. 25) – Cari Groce, who has won more than 300 matches in a lengthy career that includes head coaching stints at three Division I schools, has been selected to take over the Central Oklahoma women's tennis program.

A Stillwater native and All-American at Nebraska in the 1980s, Groce comes to the Bronchos after serving the past year as head boys and girls coach at Stillwater High School. She has a 329-304 career collegiate record in 19 years at Tulsa, Washington State, Texas Tech and Cal State-Los Angeles.

"Cari brings a wealth of big-time experience to UCO," athletic director Joe Muller said. "Her success coaching the Pac-10 and Big 12 along with her ties to Oklahoma will be a huge asset to this program. We look forward to her growing the program and achieving new levels of success in the years ahead."

UCO has been without a coach since Natalya Nikitina-Helvey left in early August to accept a teaching position at Cameron. The Bronchos went 109-67 during her eight-year tenure, making the NCAA Division II national tournament five times.

"I want to thank Joe Muller and the search committee for this wonderful opportunity," Groce said. "Edmond is a fantastic tennis community and I'm excited about helping the UCO program continue to grow."

Groce, who played professionally briefly in Europe after becoming Nebraska's first-ever tennis All-American in 1986, started her coaching career as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State in 1987.

She helped the Cowgirls win back-to-back Big Eight championships and then spent one season as assistant coach at Texas Tech before becoming Tulsa's head coach in 1990, leading the Golden Hurricane to a 21-4 record in her only season there.

Groce moved on to Washington State in 1991 and spent 12 years with the Cougars, compiling a 140-108 record. She was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year three times while guiding WSU to Pac-10 North Division championships and four national tournament appearances.

Groce took over at Texas Tech in 2003 and had a 57-61 record in five years with the Red Raiders. TTU went 11-10 in Groce's first year after having finished 3-17 the season before.

After a year as a tennis professional at Lakewood Country Club in Dallas, Groce returned to coaching at Division II Cal State-Los Angeles in 2009. The Golden Eagles went 12-9 in her lone season there after going 3-17 the previous year.

Groce went back to Lakewood Country Club for two years before becoming assistant coach at Air Force in 2012, helping the Falcons to a 13-9 record in one year there.

Family considerations led to Groce's return to Oklahoma in July 2013, when she took over as boys and girls coach of Stillwater's junior high and high school teams.

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