MARTIN, Tenn. – University of Tennessee at Martin officials met with the Skyhawk tennis team on Thursday, Sept. 15 to notify the student-athletes that the program would be discontinued after the 2022-23 season.
“This was an extremely difficult decision for our university and athletic department and one we came to after much consideration and discussion,” UT Martin athletic director Kurt McGuffin said. “Our tennis program has a rich tradition but the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the business model of college athletics across the country and has forced a collective change in operations. The reality is that our department has overachieved with limited funding – this move will help reallocate funds to other sports in hopes to bring in further participation and additional opportunities for our 19 sports, specifically our 12 female or co-ed programs.”
Skyhawk head coach Caitlyn Williams tendered her resignation on Monday to pursue other professional opportunities. The Knoxville, Tenn. native was named the ninth head coach in program history on Jan. 6, 2020 and posted her first career victory a little over a month later before the season was cut short.
In 2020-21, UT Martin won the Ohio Valley Conference Team Academic Achievement Award, producing the highest percentage of student-athletes with at least a 3.25 Grade Point Average out of any other conference school in their sport. Last season, the Skyhawks posted their best single-season league winning percentage (.429) since 2017-18.
Overall, Williams went 7-40 with a 5-9 OVC record over parts of three seasons as head coach at UT Martin, who has won six combined OVC championships since joining the NCAA Division I ranks in 1992.
“We are appreciative of Coach Williams’ efforts – her resignation did not factor into this decision to discontinue the program,” McGuffin said. “We will fill the head coach position on an interim basis for the 2022-23 season. We hurt deeply for the seven student-athletes on our roster but unfortunately this is a necessary action. We will honor the scholarship of each tennis student-athlete through the end of the 2022-23 academic year.”