Dzubay Named Head Coach of Hillsdale College Women's Tennis Program

Release courtesy of Brad Monastiere, Hillsdale College Sports Information Director

Hillsdale, Mich. -- Nikki Dzubay, a 24-year-old native of Sylvania, Ohio, is the Chargers’ coach, having been selected from a highly qualified group of candidates by Athletic Director Don Brubacher. Dzubay comes to Hillsdale most recently from Division I Florida Atlantic University, where she served as an assistant coach for the past two years.

Dzubay (pronounced ZOO-bay), played tennis for four years at the University of Dayton, where she graduated in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration/sports management. At FAU, she earned her master’s degree in exercise physiology. She said the opportunity to join the Charger coaching staff, and to start a program from scratch, were challenges she is anxious to take on.

“I am excited and ready to start building a quality tennis program for Hillsdale College,” she said. “Consistent with the school’s mission, I will promote strong academics and will help each player mature and grow as a person while they are a student-athlete. This will be done through teaching good morals and work ethic, on and off the court.”

Brubacher said Dzubay brings a multitude of skills to the head coaching position for the tennis program, and looks forward to building the program with her.

“We are pleased Nicole has accepted our invitation to join the Hillsdale College athletic department,” Brubacher said. “She brings an academic and sport background that gives her excellent preparation to build an outstanding women’s tennis program, and contribute to the department in many other ways as well. We know she will be a great asset to the college.”

During her playing career at Dayton, Dzubay emerged as one of the program’s top players, while compiling an impressive list of off-the-court accomplishments. She was a starting singles player during her career, and became part of the No. 1 doubles team while being chosen as team captain as a senior. In 2007, her team earned the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Team Sportsmanship Award, and Dzubay was named to the Atlantic 10 Conference Academic Honor Roll in each of her four seasons with the Flyers. She also handled various practice, travel and strength and conditioning responsibilities with the team while she was a player. As a senior in 2008-09, she was named her team’s most valuable player, and received the Rev. Charles L. Collins S.M. Award of Excellence, for her outstanding citizenship in 2008-09.

Carrying those kinds of responsibilities served her well at her next stop at FAU, where she made the smooth transition into assistant coach for the Owls. She emphasized technique, strategy and mental toughness in her role as assistant coach, and was at her best when helping her players win closely fought matches. She was also an active recruiter for the Owls, and played a big part in organizing team activities, travel plans and honing its strength and conditioning program.

Dzubay’s skill and experience with strength and conditioning instruction led her to fill that coach’s role for the United States Tennis Association Player Development, based in Boca Raton, Florida. She helped develop tennis-specific drills for highly skilled players, to use both on the court and in the weight room.

“I also look forward to expanding our strength and conditioning program, as the best athletes grow even further outside of their sport with putting extra hours in at the weight room,” Dzubay added.

Dzubay also worked as an instructor for the undergraduate course Health, Fitness for Life at FAU, teaching nearly 700 students during her two-year tenure at the school. In addition, Dzubay worked as the strength and conditioning coach at the Delray Competitive Tennis Club, where she worked with junior-level players, ages 8-17, on how to improve technique, increase physical fitness and to prevent injuries. She is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and has First Aid and CPR certification.

Dzubay played high school tennis at Sylvania Northview, not far from Toledo, where she racked up a career record of 108-15. She was a four-time sectional and district qualifier and was a three-time state qualifier. She was a sectional doubles champion three times, and was named Second-Team All-State in 2004-05. She earned First-Team All-League distinction in 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05.