After more than a seven month coaching search, Ball State University has hired a 23 year old with Division I head coaching experience to be its new women's tennis coach.
Ball State announced Tuesday that former University of Evansville head coach Christine Bader will be the Cardinals coach for the upcoming season.
In Bader's two years as the Purple Aces head coach the team went a combined 23-18 but failed to advance beyond the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament both years. Bader was the youngest head coach in Evansville's NCAA Division I history and will be the youngest Ball State head coach in recent history.
"We are excited to be able to hire a young yet experienced women's tennis coach in Christine Bader," athletics director Tom Collins stated in a press release. "She has proven she can be successful at the NCAA Division I level as a tennis coach and a mentor to young female student-athletes."
Collins, who was attending the Mid-American Conference meetings in Cleveland on Wednesday, was unavailable for further comment.
Prior to coaching at Evansville, Bader was a two-time All-Big Ten Conference selection and three-time team captain at Michigan State University. She also finished her senior year in 2008 with a 18-14 No. 1 singles record and was nationally ranked No. 113 in singles play.
Bader will take over for interim head coach Amy Behrman. Behrman, a former local high school head coach, was hired as the interim head coach in January after head coach Kathy Bull was fired in October for reported NCAA violations.
The Cardinals finished last season 8-15 and in eight place in the Mid-American Conference. Ball State has won one regular season conference match in the last two years.
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