Mars Hill Names Jarod Camerota As Head Tennis Coach

MARS HILL, N.C. - Jarod Camerota has been named as the new men's and women's head tennis coach at Mars Hill College, Athletic Director David Riggins announced today. He will begin his duties immediately.

Riggins stated, "Jarod brings a substantial tennis background with him as he begins his duties at Mars Hill. Those experiences along with his keen interest in young people made him the right fit for our program. He is a great addition to the MHC family."

Camerota, the 2007 Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year, came to the Lions from Georgia State. During his two year tenure with the Panthers, Camerota coached the Colonial Athletic Association Conference Player of the Year. He also coached the Panthers to a No. 55 team ranking and a singles' player to a No. 69 ranking. Georgia State also had one of the highest men's tennis team's GPA in school history.

Camerota stated, "I'd like to thank MHC and Coach Riggins for giving me the opportunity to coach here. I'm very excited to work at a great college that is in one of the best locations in the country. "

In Camerota's first season with the Panthers, his team played one of the toughest schedules to date. The Panthers competed against nine opponents ranked in the top 75 his first season and 13 opponents ranked in the top 75 his second season and individually collected impressive wins. Nejc Podkrajsek was named CAA Men's Tennis Player of the Year and CAA Men's Tennis Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Podkrajsek also earned first-team honors for singles and second-team honors for doubles with former Panther Anze Cevka.

Camerota went to Georgia State from Jacksonville University where he served as head men's and women's tennis coach for two seasons. While at Jacksonville, he turned both the men's and women's programs around by recruiting 16 new student-athletes in less than two years. In 2007, he led the women's program to an Atlantic Sun conference title and its first NCAA Tournament appearance while coaching three all-conference players.

The men's team also improved drastically under Camerota, posting a 14-7 record in 2006-07 including its first trip to the conference semifinals, after finishing 1-15 in the previous season.

Before joining Jacksonville, Camerota served as an assistant coach for one year (2004-05) at Northern Illinois and helped direct the men's and women's squads to the Mid-American Conference Tournament and had two players earn All-MAC accolades. On the men's side, Willy Gali earned first-team All-MAC accolades and became the first Husky to be named MAC Player of the Year since 1993-94. On the women's side, Cassie Drake was named second-team All-MAC.

Prior to Northern Illinois, Camerota began his collegiate coaching career at Ball State University. In two years (2002-04) as a volunteer assistant for the men's squad, he helped a pair of Cardinals achieve first-team All-MAC status. One of those first-team honorees, Matt Baccarani, finished the year ranked No. 30 in the ITA Midwest Regional singles rankings. Camerota was also the assistant boys' tennis coach at Newport Harbor (Calif.) High School during the 2003 season.

Camerota also served as a tennis camp instructor at Kenosha (Wis.) Athletic Center from 2001-03 and at Robert Van't Hof Pacific Coast Tennis Academy in Newport Beach, Calif., from 2002-03.

In his playing career, Camerota competed for Wisconsin-LaCrosse. The Kenosha, Wis., native earned his bachelor's degree in Business Education from Arizona State University in 2002.