Aug. 15, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - Dawna Prevette (pronounced PRAH-vet), who helped guide the Baylor women's tennis team to the Big 12 regular-season and tournament titles in 2007, has been named the ninth head coach of the Penn State women's tennis program, Associate Athletics Director Sue Delaney-Scheetz announced today.
"We are delighted that Dawna will be our new head coach for women's tennis," Delaney-Scheetz said. "Her breadth of experience, coaching philosophy, energy and enthusiasm made her the ideal choice for this position. We are very excited to have Dawna join the Penn State family."
"It is an honor to be named as the head women's tennis coach at Penn State," Prevette said. "It has been an aspiration of mine to coach at such a special university. I am very excited to help the women's tennis program add to the great athletic tradition at Penn State."
Prevette recently completed her first season as an assistant coach at Baylor University where she helped the Bears to the Big 12 regular-season and tournament championships, as well as berth in the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen. The Bears, who peaked at No. 6 in the national rankings, finished the season 13th in the ITA poll. Prevette coached two All-America singles players, including Zuzana Zemenova, who was a semifinalist in the 2007 NCAA Singles Championship. At Baylor, Prevette was heavily involved in player development, recruiting, travel, scheduling, fundraising and budgeting.
Prior to joining the staff at Baylor, Prevette was the head coach of the women's tennis program at her alma mater North Texas for six seasons, accumulating the second-most wins by any women's tennis coach in North Texas history. The Mean Green posted the most wins in 17 years with 15 victories in the 2004 campaign. Prevette also helped her alma mater reach the highest regional ranking (13th) in school history that same season. During her tenure with the Mean Green, Prevette coached three players to Sun Belt Player of the Week honors and led North Texas to ITA All-Academic Team awards in 2003 and 2004.
In addition to her coaching duties at Baylor and North Texas, Prevette served on the Southwest Regional ITA committee (2002-06) and also served on the NCAA Division I Regional Advisory Committee. She also organized a USTA community service clinic in 2006 and was the tournament director for the Texas Regional High School Tournament from 2001-06.
Prevette, who earned her bachelor's degree in biology from North Texas in 2000, was a four-year letterwinner for the Mean Green and served as team captain in 1998 and 1999. Prevette was an all-conference performer in doubles in 1996 and was an active member of the North Texas Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) during her four years as a member of the women's tennis squad.
In her first two seasons at North Texas, Prevette tallied a 12-15 record and then moved into the No. 1 singles spot for her junior and senior years. Throughout her collegiate tennis career, she was the Big West Female Scholar Athlete of the Year and was named to the Raptor All-Eagle Academic Team. Prevette earned North Texas' Team Eagle award twice for best work ethic/team spirit.
Prevette and her husband, Buck, were married in the summer of 2000.