ITA Division III Regional Award Winners
REDLANDS, Calif. – For the first time, University of Redlands men's and women's assistant tennis coach Jake De Vries is the Division III West Region Assistant Coach of the Year, announced Tuesday morning by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
De Vries, who is in his second season with the Maroon and Grey serving as the Assistant Coach for both the men and women proved to be an important asset to Head Coach Pete Yellico during practices and matches along with recruiting efforts. The U of R women's team finished 9-6, 4-3 SCIAC and clinched a berth into the SCIAC Tournament as the No. 3 seed. For the men they posted a 10-8, 5-2 SCIAC record and also earned the No. 3 seed in the SCIAC Tournament.
A total of six student-athletes were named All-SCIAC on the year with Nils Plutat, Kendall Bolock and Olivia Rockwood being named 1st Team and Bryce Keim, Stefan Hester and Kiana Brady landing on the 2nd Team.
De Vries also helped coach the No. 1 doubles team in the West Region in Plutat and Keim who qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships.
"I am really happy that Jake has received recognition for the awesome work he has done with our program," explained Yellico. "Jake has been a vital part of the program on and off the court and we are so lucky to have him. I am proud of his accomplishment and what it means to the Bulldog tennis program."
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De Vries arrived at the University of Redlands in 2021 after spending the 2020 season as an Assistant Coach with the Women's Tennis team at USC. Before that in 2018-19 he was the Graduate Student Manager with the North Carolina women's tennis team. The Tarheels finished third in the country that season with five players ranked in singles (four in the top 21) and two doubles pairs nationally ranked.
De Vries attended Boston University where he was a member of the men's tennis team from 2013-2017. He earned the Aldo "Buff" Donelli Leadership Award for his outstanding leadership on and off the court and was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
He graduated in the spring of 2017 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and a minor in business administration and management.