Women's Tennis 8/23/2021 9:00:00 AM Chris Brannick

Vann Appointed To Tennis Post

Highly Recommended Tyler Assistant To Lead Bronchos

EDMOND – The University of Central Oklahoma athletic director Stan Wagnon announced Monday the addition of Joe Vann to the department. Vann will serve as head women's tennis coach.

"I'm excited to welcome coach Joe Vann to UCO Athletics and look forward to watching him lead the Bronchos in women's tennis," Wagnon said. "Joe comes highly recommended from those that have worked with him throughout his career, and we think his experience and approach will be the right combination to ensure UCO remains among the nation's top tennis programs."

Vann comes to UCO from UT Tyler, where he spent the past seven years as the assistant coach for both men's and women's programs.

"I'm looking forward to getting started," Vann said. "UCO is a great place and it has a great tennis program. I'm looking forward to getting going with the team and for this season, and I'm also looking forward to getting to meet the community and alumni that support the program."

At Tyler, Vann helped lead the team to American Southwest Conference titles in NCAA Division III. He also guided the team through a transition to Division II, where the men's program finished first and the women's program fourth in the Lone Star Conference in 2021. This was Vann's second tenure with the Patriots, with whom he also coached from 2007 to 2010.

During his tenure at Tyler, he helped capture five American Southwest Conference championships – three for the men's program and two more for the women. Tyler made three trips to the NCAA regional semis, a trip for the men's team to two NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, and the women's program to three regional semifinals.

Vann is a 2009 graduate of UT Tyler. He earned All-ASC honors both on the court and in the classroom there before moving into coaching.

Between stints at Tyler, Vann helped start the East Texas Baptist tennis programs in 2012 before returning to UT Tyler in 2017. Prior to his role at ETBU, Vann was the assistant tennis coach and director of the tennis academy at Austin Peay State University.

Vann has a long list of award winners from his various coaching stops. He's coached 13 NCAA All-Americans in men's tennis and four in women's tennis, two NCAA Division I All-American individual tournament qualifiers, nine NCAA Division III national individual tournament qualifiers, six ITA Small College national championship qualifiers (Men), and four ITA Small College national championship qualifiers (Women). Vann lists his two Arthur Ashe Award winners as his biggest coaching accomplishments.

Vann holds a Master's Degree in Human Resources and Development and a Bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from UT Tyler with a minor in Science. He is married (Jennifer) and they have two daughters (Lillian and Jules).

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