Sarah Gray enters her fifth season as Head Coach of the Dallas Baptist University Men’s and Women’s Tennis Teams. This past year, two women's players received NCCAA All-American honors while the team advanced to the semi-finals of the NCCAA Championships in Mobile, AL to Indiana Wesleyan University. The team played the hardest schedule in DBU tennis history while expanding their schedule to compete against multiple top 25 teams. Their cumulative team GPA was 3.41.
The men's team qualified to compete at the NCCAA Regionals in Abilene before falling to Oklahoma Baptist and McMurry University in a round robin event. Although the men's team did not make nationals this year, they still had a solid record and are building on last year's NCCAA Nationals’ experience. Their cumulative team GPA was 3.31.
The 2014-2015 season for both the Men’s and Women’s teams, proved to be the strongest in her four year campaign and it was in this season that Coach Gray was recognized as the ITA South Central Region Coach of the Year. The Women’s Team compiled a 12-2 regular season record and received an automatic qualifier bid to the NCCAA National Championships in Mobile, Alabama, where they posted four wins before eventually falling in the finals.
Two women’s players in 2015 were named to the NCCAA All-American Team. The women’s team also garnered ITA Scholar Team honors, which reflects a team GPA average of a 3.2. Senior standout Natalie Gennissen received the South Central Regional ITA Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship Award. Coach Sarah Gray also received honors, receiving the South Central ITA Women’s Coach of the Year.
The Men’s Tennis team also proved to gain momentum this year by achieving a 9-7 record, which qualified them to compete in the NCCAA Regionals in Abilene, Texas. Despite a loss at Regionals, the men’s seasonal performance landed them a spot in the NCCAA National Championships in Mobile, Alabama. The men proved to be a force on the national level by winning their first round at nationals. Three men’s players were named to the NCCAA All-American Team. The men’s team also received the ITA Scholar Team award.
During her first year at DBU, Gray coached one NCCAA All-American and coached the Women’s Team to a top three finish in the Heartland Conference. Both the Men’s and Women’s squads competed in the NCCAA Regionals. Prior to DBU, Gray spent a season as the Women’s Assistant Coach at Texas Christian University, where she helped guide the Women’s Team to the Mountain West Conference Championship title.
A former collegiate tennis standout at the University of Kentucky, the Lexington, Kentucky native helped the Wildcats to their first-ever SEC Championship in 2005, earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors and was also named ITA Southeast Region Rookie of the Year. While at the University of Kentucky, Gray was named a Doubles All-American after her sophomore year while playing for a squad that was ranked top 10 in the country.
Gray transferred to Texas A&M University in 2006, where she was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and All-Big 12. Her senior year she collected the Aggie Spirit Award. Throughout her collegiate career, Gray competed in the NCAA Individual Championships four times in doubles and twice in singles.
After graduating from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Minor in Communications, Gray played professional tournaments. She then played for Blankeneser, a Hamburg, Germany club team. After traveling through France to accumulate a French ranking in 2008, the next year she competed for T.C. Vignes, a club team in Lussac, France. In the summer of 2013, she also helped TC Vignes win their divison and progress forward in their respective French league. She loves to play tennis with her husband and annually competes in the National Mother-Daughter tennis tournament with her mother.
Sarah Gray and her husband, Kent, have been married since 2009. Kent is a data analyst at EcoLab in Irving. They have one daughter, Katie, who was born in September of 2014. They are active members at Grace Bible Church and reside in Dallas.
