Kucera to coach Eastern Michigan tennis

YPSILANTI, Mich. — Creston native Ryan Kucera was announced Wednesday as head coach of the Eastern Michigan University tennis program.

Kucera takes over the Eagles’ program after one successful season as head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Prior to the that Kucera was head coach of the women’s tennis program at Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn. He is a graduate of Grand View University where he was a member of the men’s tennis team.

“We are thrilled to welcome Ryan to our Eastern athletics family,” said Scott Wetherbee, Eastern Michigan University vice president/director of athletics. “His energy and passion for the game are infectious, and we are confident that his innovative approach, using data and advanced metrics, will greatly enhance our student-athletes’ success on the court.”

Kucera is the 11th head coach in the history of the program that was initiated in 1976-77 by Lucy Parker.

Last year Kucera guided the UW-Milwaukee team to a 9-14 record in dual matches while guiding the team to the semifinals of the 2023 Horizon League Tournament, where Milwaukee fell to eventual champion Youngstown State. His team’s nine victories ranked as the third-most for a first-year coach in UWM’s program history. Individually, he helped Nadiia Konieva to 20 victories on the year while earning All-Horizon League first team and Freshman of the Year honors.

The squad was also recognized nationally as an All-Academic Team by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association with all eight student-athletes earning ITA Scholar Athlete awards.

Kucera was named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year after guiding the Minnesota State team to a 16-10 record and 8-3 mark in NSIC play. It was the programs largest single-season turnaround in conference history, going from 11th place to third place in one year.

Kucera is a 2016 graduate of Creston High School and qualified for the state tennis tournament in 2015 and 2016.