Texas Tech Camp of Champions: Camp Staff
Camp Staff
Cari Groce - Camp Director/Women's Head Coach
Cari Groce is in her fifth year at the helm of the Lady Raider tennis program after serving 12 years as the head coach at Washington State University. Groce is in her 17th year as a head coach with a career record of 196-173, which includes stops at Washington State and Tulsa.
Last season Groce coached her team to an 11-11 record, 4-7 and tied for seventh in conference play. Her team advanced to the second round of the Big 12 Tournament after defeating Kansas State, 4-1. Samantha van der Drift was named All-Big 12 singles and Academic All-Big 12 with Lakann Wagley and Janet Durham. In 2007, Groce was honored by the USTA/ITA with Community Service Award-Texas Section and the 2006 Campus Recreation Award for her outstanding dedication of promoting tennis within the Lubbock community.
Groce was named the 2006 Professional Tennis Registry Coach of the Year. The award is named for Coach Jim Verdieck, who was a PTR member and the winningest tennis coach in NCAA history. The award dates back to 1988, and is among one of the greatest milestones in Groce's career.
In her first season at Tech, she led the Lady Raiders to an 11-10 overall record which was a drastic improvement from the previous year at 3-17. Groce coached the team to a 4-7 record in the Big 12 conference. Texas Tech finished the season ranked at No. 8 in the conference. In 2005, Groce led the No. 61 squad to a 10-13 overall record and 5-6 in the Big 12. The Red and Black tallied wins over No. 50 Missouri, No. 56 Colorado and No. 55 Oklahoma.
In July, 2005, Groce was named to the ITA Board of Directors. The ITA Board of Directors, which is comprised of the ITA Executive Director and coaches representing men and women's tennis from all three NCAA Divisions, NAIA and Junior/Community Colleges, determines overall administrative policy for the association. The Board meets annually each December at the ITA Coaches Convention in Miami.
While at WSU, Groce guided the Cougars to four NCAA Tournament appearances in five years and was named the Pac-10 Women's Coach of the Year and ITA Coach of the Year for the Northwest Region in 2001-02. She was also named Pac-10 Coach of the Year, North Division, in 1994, 1995, and 1996. She kept the Cougars nationally ranked since 1994 and produced two first team All Pac-10 Conference players, four second team all-conference selections and eight honorable mentions. On the academic side, her teams were awarded the Top WSU Athletic Award for overall highest GPA seven times, three first-team All Pac-10 Conference Academic selections, as well as eight Academic All-Americans and three Academic All-American teams.
In 2002, Groce served as NCAA West Region representative on the NCAA Tournament Committee. For four years she served as the Northwest regional chair. In addition, she served terms on the ITA operations committee, and on the ITA Tournament Committee and is the National Chair of the men's and women's ITA Awards Committee. In 2001, not only did she lead her team with an 11-8 regular season record to the NCAA team championships, but Groce also saw the school's second individual singles competitor and WSU's first individual doubles team be picked to the NCAA Tournament.
Groce was appointed to Texas Tech's head coaching position in the spring of 2003. Prior to accepting her Tech appointment, Groce served 12 years as the head coach at Washington State and one year as head coach at the University of Tulsa. Groce also served as an assistant coach at Texas Tech and at Oklahoma State.
No stranger to the game, Groce was the first University of Nebraska tennis player to earn All-American honors. She was a four-year letterwinner for the Huskers and guided them on the court as team captain. She was a Big 8 Conference finalist in singles and doubles. During her junior season, Groce earned NCAA/ITA All-American honors while reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. She went on to play a stint on the professional circuit.After completing her eligibility with the Huskers, Groce moved to Oklahoma State as an assistant coach while she completed her bachelor's degree in recreation administration and management.
She is a native of Stillwater, Okla., and her mother Carolyn is a teacher in Lewisville. Her brother, Michael, is on the football staff at Texas A&M, and her sisters, Christi Barr and Cami Patzkowski, are married to football coaches from Denton H.S. and Texas A&M, respectively. She is the proud aunt of Gracie, Allie, Caroline and Landry. Groce's late father, Ike, was inducted into the Texas Tennis Coaches Hall of Fame in 1986 and served as the tennis coach at Oklahoma State University.
Tim Siegel - Camp Director/Men's Head Coach
In his 15th year as the head coach of the Red Raiders, Tim Siegel has continued to mold the team to be one of the top competitors in the Big 12 Conference and the nation. He achieves this by making a commitment to recruit the best players, hire the best assistants, and demand 100 percent on and off the court. Siegel is very intense and extremely hard working, and loves coaching and teaching his players. He wants to continue to bring in talented players, but is much more interested in recruiting student-athletes who work hard and come to play every day.
Siegel's tenure with the men's tennis program began in 1993. Since taking over, the men's team has attained high levels of success on the national stage. Six of the past 13 seasons the men's team has reached the NCAA Tournament and has been included among the top 30 teams in the nation, as well as having individual players ranked in the top 100.
Last season Siegel coached his team to a 14-10 overall record, 2-4 and tied for fourth in the Big 12. The team ended the season ranked 33, but reached as high as 22 in the ITA national polls in mid-March. After another successful regular season finish, Siegel and his Red Raiders returned to the NCAA Tournament after narrowly missing out in 2006. The team traveled to the UCLA regionals in Los Angeles where they advanced to the second round after upsetting Virginia Commonweath, 4-1. In the second round, unfortunately, the No. 33 Red Raiders fell to the No. 9 Bruins, 4-0. His team has maintained a 3.0 GPA or higher since the fall of 1999 with 20 players being named to the Academic All-Big 12 team.
Possibly his most successful campaign as a coach to date, in 2005 Siegel was named Big 12 Coach of the Year and Co-Region Coach of the year by his peers. He led the Red and Black to the NCAA Sweet 16, recording the program's first post-season win. Siegel went above and beyond, leading Tech to victories over TCU and Army before falling to No. 4 Ole Miss. Bojan Szumanksi, an All-Big 12 Singles selection, and Radek Nijaki, the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, earned bids to the NCAA Singles Championship. Additionally, Szumanksi and Michael Innerebner earned Academic All-American honors for their efforts in the classroom.
A native of New Orleans, La., Siegel began his collegiate tennis career at the University of Arkansas. A 1986 graduate of Arkansas, Siegel was a two-time All-American and a three-time All-Southwest Conference singles champion. Siegel played professional tennis and reached a top 100 world ranking in doubles. He teamed with Jimmy Arias to reach the quarterfinals at the U.S. Clay Court Championships, and was a semifinalist in Brisbane, Bologna, and Florence. He also reached the third round of doubles at the U.S. Open, Australian Open and the second round of Wimbledon. A few of his big wins include victories over John Lloyd-Paul McNamee, Ivan Lendl-Bill Scanlon and Yannick Noah-Paul Annacone. After his graduation from Arkansas, Siegel began his coaching career with the Razorbacks where he served as an assistant coach for his alma mater.
In 1990, Siegel received his first head coaching position at SMU where he served as women's head coach and men's assistant coach. In his two years at SMU, Siegel led the Lady Mustangs to a 28-23 record. Siegel also has worked as a coach on the professional level, coaching for tour pros, including Joey Rive, Robert Seguso and Richey Reneberg.
During the past 15 years as the men's head coach, Siegel has compiled a 194-166 record. Siegel has done an outstanding job recruiting top athletes, locally, nationally and internationally, and has provided the team with the leadership and experience needed to be successful. He brings dedication and excitement to the program.
Siegel and his wife, Jenny, reside in Lubbock with his daughter Alex, and their children Kate, Ellie, and Luke. In addition to coaching, Siegel's favorite hobby is being a dad to his four children. When he is not found at the courts, he spends his time with loving wife and amazing kids.
Marcelo Ferreira - Assistant Coach
Ferreira comes to Tech from Georgia College & State University, where he was the assistant men's and women's tennis coach.
A member of the International Club GCSU, he was also a three-time letterwinner at Georgia College & State University. There he compiled a 47-33 career record in singles and a 32-23 career record in doubles. Ferreira was also named to the Peach Belt Conference Honor Roll all three years.
The Sao Paulo, Brazil, native began his coaching career in 1998 at the Mauro Menezes Tennis Academy in Sao Paulo, where he taught lessons and helped manage the academy. During the same time, he also taught at the Alphaville Tennis Club organizing inter-clubs and challenges. As a certified tennis teaching professional in Brazil, his experience helped coach three All-American players during his career.
After leaving Brazil Ferreira became the assistant director at Future Stars Tennis Camp in South Hampton, N.Y. Also during that time he founded 2SV Sports Management, a company that organizes events and tournaments for prospective tennis players to compete in the United States.
Ferreira graduated from Georgia College & State in 2006 with a bachelor of science in education, with an emphasis in physical education. He is currently pursuing a master of science degree in education, with a focus in health promotion and human performance.
Jeff Kutac - Assistant Coach
Kutac is in his 15 year as a collegiate coach, he currently is the assistant coach at Texas Christian University. Jeff has spent many summers working tennis camps with Coach Groce, and his current men's team at TCU is ranked in the top 20 nationally.
Todd Petty - Assistant Coach
Petty comes to Lubbock after serving as the head coach at Rider High School in Wichita Falls, Texas. He received his bachelor of arts in political science from Midwestern State University, where he graduated cum laude and minored in kinesiology. He is currently seeking his master's degree in health fitness management.
During his collegiate career, Petty garnered several post-season honors. He was named to the Southland All-Conference team in both 1999 and 2000 at Texas-San Antonio. After transferring to Midwestern State he was named to the 2002 Lone Star Conference All-Academic team and named an ITA Academic All-American.
At Rider High, Coach Petty mentored several students to state qualifying berths, including in 2003 when three Rider tennis players qualified for the 4-A state tournament. In addition, his teams have finished in the top five in the state of Texas from 2004-2006, with the 2006 team placing third. The Rider tennis program has grown to have 70 participants, the largest it has ever been.
Petty taught tennis professionally at the Wichita Falls Country Club since 2000, where he instructed some of the top juniors in the state and was in charge of organizing youth tennis tournaments. In 2005, he was selected to coach a juniors team to the Tourney Sport Hawaii Classic.
While in school, he also served as a graduate assistant for Midwestern State where he was involved in recruiting, coaching, and traveling with the men's and women's tennis programs. In 2003 and 2004, the men's tennis team qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
Petty and his wife, Angie, currently reside in Lubbock.