Juancarlos Nunez - Tennis Coach - University of Massachusetts Athletics

Photo by: Thom Kendall - UMass Athletics

Juancarlos Nunez

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
jc.nunez@umass.edu

Director of Athletics Ryan Bamford returned a familiar face to the Mullins Center courts when Bamford named Juancarlos "JC" Nunez as the head coach of the University of Massachusetts tennis program on June 8, 2017. Nunez begins his ninth season at the helm of the program and 15th campaign on the coaching staff overall in 2025-26

Nunez succeeded legendary program leader Judy Dixon, who retired following the 2016-17 season after she led UMass to an Atlantic 10 Championship title and the NCAA Tournament.

"UMass is family for me, which makes this a truly exciting opportunity," Nunez said. "I am deeply humbled and honored to lead the UMass women's tennis program. Coach Judy Dixon has established a remarkable legacy at UMass and my goal will be to continue building upon the foundation that she leaves."

Through seven completed seasons as the program's head coach, Nunez owns a 88-49 overall record (.642) while his Minutewomen went 29-5 against Atlantic 10 competition (.853) from 2017-25.

During the 2024-25 season, Nunez coached the team to a 12-7 season overall, including an unblemished 4-0 A-10 Conference mark. The Minutewomen earned the No. 2-seed heading into the A-10 Championships for the ninth time in program history and second time with Nunez at the helm. UMass reached the semifinals of the league championships for the 13th time in program history and fourth time with Nunez as the head coach.

Nunez also saw four Minutewomen earn A-10 Postseason honors. Mariana Campino collected A-10 All-Conference First Team and All-Academic Team honors, while Ella Faessler, Belle Jongelrtrakul and Amelia Tye all landed on the A-10 All-Conference Second Team. Campino, Faessler and Jonglertrakul also earned a spot on the College Sports Communicators' Academic All-District Team. The team earned a top-10 ITA New England Regional, ranking No. 10, for the second straight year, while Campino ranked No. 18 in the final ITA New England Regional Singles Rankings.

Nunez led the team to a 15-8 season overall, including a 4-1 mark in A-10 Conference play during the 2023-24 season. The campaign marked the third time in program history that Massachusetts claimed the league's championship title and reached the NCAA Tournament. Massachusetts completed its home schedule with a 7-1 record and went on a four-match win streak to finish out the regular season. The Minutewomen continued their win streak in the postseason with three consecutive victories in the A-10 Tournament, before falling to No. 2 Stanford in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.

Following the A-10 Championship, Nunez tabbed the A-10 Coach of the Year accolade for the first time in his career, and only the second coach in history behind Dixon – who received the award six times in her tenure.

Additionally, Nunez earned the Wilson/ITA New England Region Coach of the Year, becoming the second head coach in program history to earn the award, as former head coach Dixon earned the accolade in 2017. Nunez's assistant coach, Hannah McColgan earned the ITA New Engand Region Assistant Coach of the Year honor, becoming the third assistant coach to garner the honor and first since 2013, when Nunez tabbed the award, while Celeste Frey held the honor in 2006.

The 2023-24 season saw Danielle Hack earn the Atlantic 10 Most Outstanding Performer of the Year, while garnering the ITA New England Region Senior Player of the Year. Thamonpan Jongelrtrakul tabbed the ITA New England Region Most Improved Player and ITA New England Region Player to Watch awards, as well. Hack and Jonglertrakul landed on the A-10 All-Conference First Team, while Ella Faessler earned a spot on the A-10 All-Conference Second Team. Hack was also selected to the A-10 All-Academic Team.

At the conclusion of the season, the Minutewomen ranked sixth in the final ITA New England Regional Rankings for the first time ever in program history, while Hack ranked seventh in the ITA New England Regional Singles Rankings and partners Hack and Jonglertrakul earned the No. 5 ranking in the ITA New England Regional Doubles Rankings. Hack's singles ranking was the highest of any Minutewomen in program history, as Hack and Jonglertrakul received a personal best ranking, after being previously ranked 10th in the 2021-22 final ITA Regional Doubles Rankings. The duo also became the second duo in program history to be ranked twice in their careers.

Nunez guided the team to a 12-7 overall record and a 5-1 A-10 Conference mark in the 2022-23 season. UMass also completed its home schedule with an 8-1 record and held an undefeated home streak of 16 matches from February 12, 2022 to April 8, 2023. The program was seeded No. 3 in the A-10 Championships, advancing to the Semifinals after Polina Akimova secured the match point over the No. 6-seed Davidson in the Quarterfinals Round.

Melisa Senli garnered the Atlantic 10 Most Outstanding Rookie of the Year accolade, becoming only the eighth rookie in program history to earn the honor, including the third in the last five seasons, with Renata Farima (2022) and Jodie Lawrence-Taylor (2019) receiving the award. It also marked the first time the program had back-to-back Most Outstanding Rookie of the Year accolades. Senli also landed on the A-10 All-Conference First Team, along with Hack. Mariya Krasakova claimed Second Team honors for the second consecutive year. Senli earned A-10 Rookie of the Week three times throughout the season, while Hack lauded A-10 Performer of the Week twice. Hack, Krasakova, Jonglertrakul and Anna Napadiy all earned College Spot Communicators' (CSC) Academic All-District Team membership.

During the Fall season, Hack and Jonglertrakul became the first doubles team to in Massachusetts tennis program history to compete in the ITA Women's All-American Championships. The duo made even more history as the pair picked up the program's first ever win in the event, while also earning the first ever victory over a Southeastern Conference (SEC) school. Hack and Jonglertrakul downed their Alabama opponents, 8-5, to advance to the Round of 32.

The 2021-22 season saw the program post a 15-4 overall record, including a perfect 7-0 mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Massachusetts concluded its home slate with an 8-0 record, while going undefeated in the months of February and March. The squad won the last six matches of the year, and 15 of the last 17, overall.

Renata Farima lauded the Atlantic 10 Most Outstanding Rookie of the Year accolade for the first time since 2019, and totaled seven weekly league awards throughout the season. Farima also earned a spot on the A-10 All-Conference First Team, while Danielle Hack and Mariya Krasakova claimed Second Team honors. Farima capped the year ranking No. 17 in the ITA Northeast Regional Singles Rankings, while the duo of Hack and Thamonpan Jonglertrakul ranked No. 10 in the ITA Northeast Regional Doubles Rankings.

UMass opted to not compete during the 2020-21 season, but all eight members of the team garnered ITA Scholar-Athlete honors.

Massachusetts still achieved programmatic milestones in 2019-20 despite a shortened season due to the COVID-19 related cancellation of sports at a nation-wide level.

Nunez's squad entered 2019-20 with the a No. 9 ranking from the ITA in the Northeast Region, the first time in program history receiving such a distinction of team-wide success. The squad also participated in the ECAC Championships for the first time ever during the fall while senior Janja Kovacevic became the first Minutewoman selected for participation in the ITA All-American Championships.

After a strong debut in 2017-18, the Minutewomen continued their upward trajectory during his second campaign with an 18-5 overall record and 5-1 mark in the Atlantic 10. Massachusetts earned the No. 3 overall seed in the 14-team Atlantic 10 Championship and advanced through to the quarterfinal round.

The 18 victories and the .783 win percentage marked the second-most wins and the second-highest win percentage in the 43-year history of the program. The squad had not accomplished more than 18 victories since the 2000-01 season (20) and had not posted at least a .783 win percentage since 1995-96 (.789; 15-4 overall).

Nunez guided the 2018-19 squad to a pair of eight-match win streaks, each of which featured victories over a wide array of talented regional foes as well as Atlantic 10 competitors. In the history of UMass tennis, the 2018-19 team is the only one to record multiple winning streaks of eight matches or more in the same campaign.

The Minutewomen were lauded individually and collectively for their successes on and off the court throughout 2018-19.

Kovacevic, then a junior, took home her second career Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team accolade following completion of the season while newcomer Jodie Annie Lawrence-Taylor won the 2018-19 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and joined Kovacevic on the first team. Senior Ruth Crawford collected her third-ever Atlantic 10 All-Conference nod with a spot on the second team.

Off the courts, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) bestowed the program its Community Service Award in recognition of the entire team's civic efforts in the Northeast while nine members of the team won Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll for their work in the classroom.

In his first season at the helm of the program, Nunez imprinted his own style of tennis and returned Massachusetts to the Atlantic 10 Championship Match for the third time in the last four seasons. With on-court leadership from all-conference standouts Crawford, Kovacevic and Ana Yrazusta, and an infusion of youth across the lineup, the Minutewomen became the first No. 6 seed to advance through to the title match in league history.

Under Nunez's guidance, No. 6 seeded Massachusetts downed No. 11 Saint Joseph's, No. 3 Davidson and No. 2 George Washington in succession for the berth in the 2018 Atlantic 10 Championship Match. It proved the exclamation point on a standout campaign for the Maroon and White, which also included the program's first-ever spring season victory over an Ivy League opponent, Yale, among its 13 total match wins.

Prior to his return to the familiarity of Western Massachusetts, Nunez spent two years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Brown University following his six-year stint as an assistant coach for the Minutewomen.

The return of Nunez to UMass reunites him with several players he recruited before his time at Brown, while the program itself is in a strong position among the Atlantic 10 Conference following its A-10 title and NCAA berth.

At Brown, Nunez helped guide a pair of All-Ivy League selections in 2015-16 and 2016-17. He coached the leading doubles pair of Alyza Benotto and Dayna Lord to the program's highest national ranking (No. 45) in team history. In addition to his on-the-court work, Nunez was also responsible for all academic supervision, assisting with fundraising efforts, and coordination of recruiting, social media and compliance work.

In his time with the Minutewomen (2009-15), Nunez helped the program post six-consecutive winning seasons, including a pair of finals berths in the Atlantic 10 Championships alongside two additional semifinal appearances. He was named the ITA Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2013.

Overall, Nunez guided 16 players to All-Atlantic 10 honors, highlighted by Yrzusta's 2015 A-10 Most Outstanding Rookie accolade. Additionally, UMass was tabbed an ITA All-Academic Team twice during his tenure while 19 Minutewomen were named ITA Scholar-Athletes. Nunez assembled four top-25 recruiting classes in his six years with Dixon as well.

Prior to coaching at the University of Massachusetts, Nunez served as an assistant coach for the women's tennis team at his alma mater, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, in 2008-09.

As a student-athlete at UALR, Nunez posted a 78-30 career singles record including a 24-5 mark as a junior. Nunez served the Trojans as a captain as a senior in 2007-08 and earned Academic All-District honors on three occasions.

A native of Valenica, Venezuela, he earned a bachelor's degree in speech communication from UALR in 2008. As a graduate student at Massachusetts, he attained master's degrees in sport management and higher education administration. He is married to Mary Nunez, who is a double graduate from UMass as well.
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Juancarlos Nunez's Year-By-Year Coaching Results
Year	School	Position	W-L	Postseason Notes
2008-09	Arkansas-Little Rock	Assistant Coach	10-11	-
2009-10	Massachusetts	Assistant Coach	13-9	Atlantic 10 Championship Quarterfinalists
2010-11	Massachusetts	Assistant Coach	15-9	Atlantic 10 Championship Quarterfinalists
2011-12	Massachusetts	Assistant Coach	16-8	Atlantic 10 Championship Finalists
2012-13	Massachusetts	Assistant Coach	16-6	Atlantic 10 Championship Semifinalists ITA Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year
2013-14	Massachusetts	Assistant Coach	13-9	Atlantic 10 Championship Semifinalists
2014-15	Massachusetts	Assistant Coach	17-5	Atlantic 10 Championship Finalists
2015-16	Brown	Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator	15-10	-
2016-17	Brown	Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator	12-9	-
2017-18	Massachusetts	Head Coach	13-7	Atlantic 10 Championship Finalists
2018-19	Massachusetts	Head Coach	18-5	Atlantic 10 Championship Quarterfinalists
2019-20	Massachusetts	Head Coach	3-10	Season shortened nationally due to COVID-19
2020-21	Massachusetts	Head Coach	--	Did Not Compete
2021-22	Massachusetts	Head Coach	15-5	Atlantic 10 Quarterfinalists
2022-23	Massachusetts	Head Coach	12-7	Atlantic 10 Semifinals
2023-24	Massachusetts	Head Coach	15-8	Atlantic 10 Champions NCAA Tournament - First Round Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year Wilson/ITA New England Region Coach of the Year
2024-25	Massachusetts	Head Coach	12-7	Atlantic 10 Semifinals
Head Coach Totals	One Program	--	88-49	Five Atlantic 10 Championship Appearances