Men's Tennis Southern Conference

Winberry Named New VMI Head Tennis Coach

LEXINGTON, Va. -- VMI athletic director Donny White named Jay Winberry as head coach of the VMI tennis program on Tuesday.

Winberry comes to VMI from the Van Der Meer Tennis Academy in Hilton Head, S.C., where he served as a tennis pro, teaching the fine points of the game. At Van Der Meer, he had the chance to work with tennis great Billy Stearns.

Between 1999 and 2001, Winberry was the head tennis pro at Game-Set-Match, Inc. in Denver. He coached adult teams and tutored some of the elite high school players in the state of Colorado. Winberry worked with another tennis legend, Mark Vines, while at Game-Set-Match.

Winberry's lone head coaching experience came at his alma mater of Enterprise High School in his native Redding, Calif., where he coached the Hornets for two seasons (1995-97). His top two players teamed to win the California Northern Section doubles championship in 1997, while the top singles player won the singles championship.

"I'm very excited to have an opportunity like this at such a young age (24)," said WInberry. I've had great experience with many top coaches and I feel that I can bring what I have learned to the players at VMI."

"We feel fortunate to find someone of Jay's tennis background to coach our team at VMI," said White. "He has great maturity and tennis savvy. I am confident that Jay will do a great job with our players."