Women's Tennis
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- burnset@ipfw.edu
- Phone:
- 481-6642
Eric Burns is now entering his 12th season as head coach for men’s and women’s tennis at IPFW. Burns works directly with women’s tennis in every facet and oversees the men’s program. His 190 wins with women’s tennis and 88 wins with men’s tennis for an overall record of 278-296 (190-126 women, 88-167 men) make him the winningest coach in program history.
He has led women’s tennis to eight consecutive winning seasons, including four 20-win seasons, while capturing the Summit League Regular Season Championship in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2013. He also led the team to three Summit League Tournament Championships in 2010, 2011, and 2013, which led to the first three NCAA Tournament appearances in program history.
The 2012-13 squad went 23-8 overall, sweeping through the league with a perfect 7-0 Summit League record, dropping just three sets in league play, before taking the championship over Kansas City in a thrilling 4-3 match. The squad fell 4-0 to nationally ranked Michigan in the first round of the Ann Arbor Regional.
In 2011, the team had a school record 21 consecutive wins going into the NCAA tournament, which was tied with Baylor as the longest winning streak in the nation at the time, before losing to 14th ranked Northwestern in the first round of the NCAA. In 2006, Burns was also honored as Independent Coach of the Year.
The 2010-11 team finished 24-6 on their way to the NCAA, where they lost to fifth ranked Notre Dame in the first round. Notre Dame later went on to the Final Four. For his efforts, Burns was named Summit League Coach of the Year for women’s tennis in 2010.
With Burns at the helm, IPFW women’s tennis has been a dominant force in the Summit League since joining in 2007 and has never finished lower than runner-up in the regular season standings. The Dons have been to the Summit League Championship finals five out of six years (winning three).
IPFW has compiled a record of 53-5 all-time since joining the Summit League and has had 25 players earn All-Conference honors in that time. Burns is 45-2 all-time in Summit League regular season matches, which gives him the highest winning percentage in the history of the league.
Burns also coached Amy Recht, who was four time Summit League Player of the Year and the only athlete in Summit League history to accomplish that feat in any sport, while also coaching 2013 Summit League Player of the Year Anita Henestrosa. He has coached three Summit League Newcomer of the Year winners in Ingrid Ballus (2009), Anita Henestrosa (2012) and Recht (2008) and coached Alex Forsyth and Katie Brien to the first ever ITA national singles and doubles rankings in school history in 2009.
Academics have been a strength of the tennis programs since Burns arrived at IPFW and his teams have performed extremely well in the classroom. Women’s tennis has been named ITA All-Academic team in nine of his first 10 seasons at IPFW and the program has had four Cosida All Academic District selections (Beth Miller, Ingrid Ballus(2), and Alex Forsyth). Ballus was also named Cosida Academic All-America in 2011, the first tennis player in school history to receive this award.
Burns got his coaching start as an assistant coach at Franklin in 2000 and was a volunteer assistant at Anderson University in 2001. He then worked as an assistant at IPFW for one season under Roxann Krahn before taking over as head coach in 2002. He has also worked as a teaching pro at French Lick Springs Resort (1999) and with Indianapolis NJTL in 2000-2002. Burns also got experience as an assistant boy’s coach at Shelbyville High School in 2000, helping them to their first ever semi-state appearance.
A 1999 graduate of Franklin College, Burns was a four-year letter winner and helped lead the Grizzlies to their only HCAC title in school history in 1999 while capturing two individual conference titles. He graduated from Franklin with a Bachelor’s in Physical Education in 1999 and later earned his Master’s degree in Sports Administration from Ball State in 2003. He and his wife Kristy reside in Fort Wayne.
Women
2002-03 6-19
2003-04 7-19
2004-05 11-22
2005-06 17-13
2006-07 13-11
2007-08 19-9 - Summit League Regular Season runner-up
2008-09 24-4 - Summit League Regular Season Champions, Tournament Runner-ups
2009-10 24-6 - Summit League Regular Season and Tournament Champion
2010-11 27-4 - Summit League Regular Season and Tournament Champion
2011-12 19-11 - Summit League Regular Season and Tournament Runner-up
2012-13 23-8 - Summit League Regular Season and Tournament Champion
Total 190-126
Men
2002-03 7-19
2003-04 7-16
2004-05 8-18
2005-06 11-16
2006-07 7-18
2007-08 11-16
2008-09 8-17
2009-10 11-16
2010-11 9-14
Total 79-150
Total Both 269-276 (10 seasons)
