Dash Connell was officially hired as the Liberty Women's Tennis head coach on June 25, 2024, following a highly successful head coaching career at Tyler Junior College, which included 11 national championships.

Connell became the sixth head coach in the history of the program after helping guide Tyler Junior College to six NJCAA Women’s Tennis national championships (2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022) and five NJCAA Men’s Tennis national championships (2013, 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2024) since taking over the position in 2011.

Connell was named the 2024 Wilson ITA Men’s National Coach of the Year after leading Tyler Junior College to its 18^th national championship. The Apaches also finished the year ranked No. 1 in the final ITA men’s tennis national rankings.

Tyler Junior College had six men’s players finish the 2023-24 season ranked in the final ITA national singles rankings, including No. 2 Juan Carlos Garcia and No. 11 Samer Al Tori. The doubles pair of Juan Carlos Garcia and Alex Despoja also finished the year ranked No. 3 in the final ITA national doubles rankings.

The Tyler women’s tennis team completed the 2023-24 season ranked No. 3 in the final ITA national rankings after finishing in third place at this year’s national championship event.

Tyler Junior College had four nationally ranked players in the final ITA national singles rankings, including No. 4 Natalia Michta and No. 9 Yee Ching Wai. Michta and Ching Wai were also the No. 1 ranked doubles tandem in the final ITA national doubles rankings.

During his 14 seasons at the helm of the Tyler men’s and women’s tennis programs, Connell coaches 45 ITA All-America women’s players and 47 ITA All-America men’s players.

Former Lady Flame Kalani Soli (2018-20, 2022) transferred to Liberty following two seasons playing under Connel's leadership at Tyler Junior College (2016-18). Soli amassed a 45-15 singles record and a 35-20 record at Liberty.

Connell has been active in the tennis coaching community. He served as the NJCAA Women’s Tennis Coaches’ Association President (2015-2017) and is currently the NJCAA Men’s Tennis Coaches’ Association President, a position he has held since 2018.

The five-time Wilson/ITA NJCAA National Coach of the Year has also served on the ITA Coaches Operating Committee as one of two Junior College national chairs since 2017.

Connell’s leadership and coaching talent has helped send multiple players on to high level four-year institutions after their time at Tyler Junior College.

Apache student-athletes have landed at schools like: Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State, Louisville, Oklahoma, Florida State, UCLA, Alabama, Miami, TCU and Tennessee. Overall, there have been up to 17 players that have signed with a Power 5 school since Connell took over the program in 2011.

Connell Major Career Honors:

· NJCAA Men’s National Team Champion: 2013, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2024

· NJCAA Men’s National Team Runner-up: 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017

· NJCAA Women’s National Team Champion: 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022

· NJCAA Women’s National Team Runner-up: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019

· Wilson/ITA NJCAA National Women’s Coach of the Year: 2014, 2019, 2022

· Wilson/ITA NJCAA National Men’s Coach of the Year: 2022, 2024

· Wilson/ITA NJCAA Region 2 Men’s Coach of the Year: 2017, 2019

· NJCAA Herschel Stephens Award for Service: 2018

· USPTA National College Coach of the Year 2014

· USPTA Texas College Coach of the Year 2013

Before taking over as head coach at Tyler Junior College, Connell started as an assistant coach at Tyler in 2009 and was the interim head coach during the 2011-12 season.

Connell graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelor's degree in history and was part of the men’s tennis program during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. He also completed a master’s degree from UT Tyler in health and kinesiology in 2011.

Connell received the Donnelly Award from Billy Jean King in 2003 and later the ITA Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship Award for the junior college level.

Prior to transferring to Texas A&M, Connell was a standout men’s tennis player at Tyler Junior College. He was a NJCAA All-American in doubles in 2003 after finishing the year ranked No. 1 in the nation. Dash helped Tyler win the NJCAA national championship in 2002 and 2003.

Connell was born and raised playing tennis in the state of Texas. He attended Katy Taylor High School, where he was a part of two state championship teams and won the State 5A Doubles Championship in 2001.

Connell earned the Clarence Mabry Award and was named the Art Faust Sportsmanship Award recipient at the Texas Boy's Super 18 Championships.

Connell, a native of Katy, Texas, and his wife, Shae, have three sons – Mason, Emerson and Elijah.

Name	Title	Email Address
Dash Connell	Head Coach	jconnell16@liberty.edu
Grant Esposito	Assistant Coach	gesposito3@liberty.edu
Isid Hernandez	Assistant Coach	ihernandezleon@liberty.edu

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