Jennifer Hyde

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Jennifer Hyde - Women's Tennis - Florida State Seminoles
Position
Head Coach
phone
850-644-1092
email
jhyde@fsu.edu

(updated September 2022)

  • Winningest coach in Florida State history
  • Career Record:341-238 (.589)/23 seasons
  • Florida State Record: 286-175 (.620)/18 seasons
  • 16 NCAA Tournament Appearances
  • Guided the Seminoles to the highest national ranking in school history (No. 2 in 2020)
  • Has recruited and coached 7 of FSU’s 9 All Americans, 11 ITA Award Winners, including the ITA National Senior Player of the Year in 2022 (Petra Hule)
  • Recruited and coached 4 of the 5 most winningest players in program history
  • Coached the 2022 ITA National Senior Player of the Year (Petra Hule)
  • Recruited and coached the 2021 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee ( Nandini Das)
  • Five consecutive seasons advancing to the NCAA Round of 32, including two Elite 8 runs in 2018 and 2021 — the deepest runs in program history.
  • Achieved most wins in a season (21 wins in both 2018 and 2019)
  • Achieved most ACC Conference wins in a season  (11 wins in 2021)
  • em>Coached multiple teams with the highest Team GPA among all 20 FSU sports teams
  • Team earned the 2017 ITA Regional Campus and Community Outreach Award
  • Hyde selected as the 2011 and 2018 ITA Southeast Region Coach of the Year
  • Hyde selected as the 2017 ITA South Region Coach of the Year
  • Hyde elected to the ITA Board of Directors in 2021 to present.  Serves alongside top leadership of the ITA — the governing body of college tennis

 

 

Jen Hyde, the winningest coach in the history of the Florida State Women’s Tennis program, is in her 19th season as the Seminoles’ Head Coach.  She has coached four of the top five winningest players and seven of the nine All-Americans the program has known, guided the Seminoles to the highest ranking in school history and coached the Seminoles to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances in her first 18 years at the helm of the program.

Hyde has led the Seminoles to five consecutive NCAA Tournaments appearances with Elite 8 runs in both 2018 and 2021 – the deepest NCAA Championship runs in school history.  In 2021, she led the Seminoles to the Elite 8 for just the second time in program history and for the second time in her career. 

Hyde has coached six All-Americans in the past three seasons including a program-best three All-Americans in 2021.   She has coached seven of the nine All-Americans in program history. 

Hyde became Florida State’s winningest women’s tennis coach when she passed Anne Davis (1980-86) with her 142nd career win on March 22, 2014, against NC State.

Hyde coached Petra Hule – the second winningest player in school history from 2018-22.  In 2022, Hule was named an All-American in singles, to the All-ACC First-Team, advanced to both the NCAA Tournament singles and doubles Championships, was named the ITA National Senior of the Year, the Southeast Regional Player of the Year and the Southeast Regional Most Improved Senior Player of the Year.  Academically, Hule was named to the All-ACC Academic Women’s Tennis Team, the ACC Academic Honor Roll and as an ITA Scholar Athlete. 

In 2021, the Seminoles were ranked in the Top 10 of every ITA poll and finished the season with a No. 7 ranking.  Florida State also recorded its highest finish ever in ACC play. The Seminoles were 11-2 in conference and finished in second place in the ACC standings.  The Seminoles’ success against the best competition in the nation was evidenced by the team’s 17 matches versus NCAA Tournament teams and the team’s 12-5 record in those matches. Of those 17 matches, eight came against teams seeded in the Top 16 of the tournament – Florida State posted a 5-3 mark in those matches on its way to its second Elite 8 trip in three tournaments.

The 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic but was one that should not be forgotten. Hyde let the Seminoles to unprecedented new heights in 2020 reaching a program record-high ranking of No. 2 in the country. The Seminoles finished the 2020 season with a 14-3 record and seven ranked wins in 2020. Hyde also helped coach one of the top doubles pairs in the country as Hule and freshman Victoria Allen were named ITA Doubles All-Americans. Florida State began the season with its first of seven ranked wins over No. 14 Washington (4-3) as the Seminoles started the season off 6-0.  The Seminoles gained their second win over a ranked team when they defeated No. 18 Texas A&M (4-0) in the final match of ITA Kick-Off Weekend.  Florida State’s victory over Texas A&M advanced the Seminoles to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the second time in program history. The Seminoles took down No. 15 UCF (4-3) before heading to Chicago for National Indoors, where the Seminoles would finish with a 2-1 record, with wins over No. 7 Texas (4-3) and No. 22 Georgia Tech (4-2).

The 2019 season was one filled with firsts for the Florida State tennis program. Hyde helped lead the Seminoles to 11 ACC wins for the first time in program history and 21 total wins for the second straight year. The Garnet and Gold also hosted their first NCAA regional since 2009. Florida State earned wins over nine ranked opponents, including their third straight win over the Florida Gators. Florida State also had three student-athletes earn All-ACC Honors – Carla Touly (second team), Emmanuelle Salas (second team) and Ana Oparenovic (third team). Oparenovic also earned ITA Southeast Region Senior Player of the Year in her first and only season with the Seminoles.

The 2018 season was one to remember for Hyde and the Seminoles as they advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.  Hyde led Florida State to their first-ever Elite 8 and their first appearance at the NCAA final site since 2010. The Seminoles earned their best regular-season finish in the ACC since 2011 as they finished fifth with a 9-5 record.  Hyde led the Seminoles to their second and third wins ever over Florida as Florida State defeated them at the USTA National Campus and in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Their first meeting was in front of the largest women’s college tennis crowd ever (1,917) and was a part of the first every college tennis match televised on the Tennis Channel. The Seminoles once again defeated Florida in Gainesville to reach the Sweet 16. Florida State knocked off Tulsa to make it to Elite 8 for the first time in school history. 

In finishing 21-9 in 2018 the Seminoles knocked off seven ranked teams and earned plenty of awards. Florida State totaled two members on the All-ACC team – Carla Touly (first team) and Petra Hule (second team). Hyde was named the ITA Southeast Region Coach of the Year – her third regional coach of the year honor of her career.  The Seminoles were honored with the ITA Southeast Region Community Service Award.

On February 16th, 2018 Hyde’s hard work off the court paid off in the form of the Michael Scott Speicher Memorial outside of the Seminoles’ home courts. Hyde worked alongside President John Thrasher, the Florida State University Student Veterans Center and Billy Francis to execute the Dedication Ceremony. Hyde and her program worked alongside the student veterans on campus and military veterans in the community to bridge a gap between athletics and the military community. They did this with quarterly clinics and socials, culminating with a competition against one of our nation’s service academies each spring. The Scott Speicher Memorial sits proudly outside of the Speicher Tennis Courts, the home of Florida State Tennis.

In 2017, Florida State reestablished the program as contenders in the Atlantic Coast Conference en route to a 17-win season, its highest win total since 2009. The Seminoles had the best season in program history in doubles play, winning 20 team doubles points.  Each of the Seminoles’ three doubles pairs finished the season ranked in the final ITA poll.

The Seminoles earned a host of individual honors in 2017.   Junior Gabriella Castaneda earned All-ACC Third-Team honors, while both Castaneda and senior Daniela Schippers were named to the All-ACC Academic team. As the Seminoles’ team leader, Schippers was named the ITA Southeast Region Most Improved Senior.

In 2016, Florida State battled through an injury-plagued season to finish with a 14-13 record and a second-round finish in the ACC Tournament. Fifth-year senior Daneika Borthwick, one of the great players in school history, was named All-ACC for the fourth time, just the third Seminole to reach that feat of sustained excellence. Borthwick also was ranked as high as No. 31 in the country after a string of victories midseason against Top 50 competition. Borthwick also earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament singles championship for the first time in her career.

In the classroom, the Seminoles won the Golden Torch for the highest team GPA on campus.

In 2015, the Seminoles posted a 16-11 record and reached the ACC Semifinals. During the year, Florida State defeated five ranked teams, including No. 36 Notre Dame and No. 15 Miami in the ACC Tournament in Cary, N.C.  Hyde oversaw the development of Borthwick, who was named the ITA Southeast Region Most Improved Senior of the Year, and Castaneda, who as a freshman led the Seminoles with 26 wins. 

The Seminoles posted a solid 16-13 season in 2013-14 with ranked wins over five opponents, including an exciting 4-3 upset victory over No. 27 Arizona in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Championships.

Florida State placed two players on the All-ACC team as Kerrie Cartwright earned second-team honors while Borthwick was named to the third team. The pair of Seminoles were an impressive doubles duo late in the season, winning nine straight matches from March 17 to May 9.  Cartwright and Borthwick qualified for the 2014 NCAA Doubles Championships as the first Seminole doubles pair to compete in the postseason since 2007.

Hyde led Florida State to the ACC Championship match in 2013 for the third time in school history.  The Seminoles defeated Wake Forest, Clemson and Virginia on their way to the championship match against Miami. During their run, the Seminoles defeated the Tigers for the first time since 2001.  Borthwick earned All-ACC honors while helping the team to a 16-10 overall record.

The Seminoles finished the 2011 season with an eight-match winning streak, as Hyde led Seminoles to the ACC title match for just the second time in program history and for the first time since 1994 when Hyde was a Seminole player.  During the eight-match winning streak, Florida State recorded the most successful weekend of play in program history as they defeated No. 3 Duke and No. 4 UNC in back-to-back matches to close out the regular season. Taking that momentum into the ACC Tournament, the Seminoles knocked off Wake Forest, No. 8 Virginia and No. 3 Duke for a second time.  Florida State’s win over Duke was 100th career win at Florida State. 

The Seminoles jumped to No. 11 in the ITA National Rankings, breaking the previous high mark of No. 12 set by the 2007-08 team.

Just one season earlier, Hyde led Florida State as she guided her team to its first-ever appearance in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles were selected to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championship for just the second time in program history, both under Hyde.   The Seminoles dominated North Florida and No. 17 South Carolina to punch their ticket to Athens, Ga., and to the highly coveted Round of 16. Hyde also watched her first Seminole earn ACC Freshman of the Year when Francesca Segarelli captured the honor in 2010.

The 2007-08 season welcomed several firsts for the program with Florida State hosting the first and second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles reached a No. 12 national ranking, the highest ranking in women tennis program history at the time. With the help of big wins against top-ranked programs during the 2008 season, the Seminoles finished the year with an overall record of 19-7, their winningest season since 1999, ranking second on the all-time list at Florida State. Also, Hyde coached freshman Katie Rybakova to a top 20 national ranking in which Rybakova also received a bid to participate in the NCAA Singles Championships as a freshman.

Hyde’s players have made eight appearances in the NCAA Championships in singles as well as four doubles pairs. Rybakova is one of two players in FSU history to qualify for the NCAA Championships three out of her four years (2008, 2009, 2011) in singles. 

Academically, Hyde’s student-athletes have consistently been among the top performing of the Seminoles’ 20 teams   The Women’s Tennis team has won the Golden Torch Award nine times under Hyde.  The award is presented to the Florida State athletic team with the highest GPA. In addition, numerous Seminoles have landed spots on the All-ACC Academic team, All-ACC Honor Roll and ITA Scholar-Athletes list in Hyde’s 11 years as head coach. The Seminoles have been honored for their high APR the in each of the last seven teams. 

Both Suess and Rybakova earned ACC postgraduate scholarships. Suess was awarded the scholarship in 2009 during her senior year, while Rybakova earned the honor for her fifth year in 2011.

Hyde has coached six players who are currently playing professionally and three that are now college coaches.

In addition to building the tennis program, Hyde has spearheaded a unique partnership with FSU Women’s Tennis and the Florida State University Student Veteran and military community with quarterly clinics and hit arounds with the tennis team and the Student Veterans on campus. This relationship is unique from any across the nation, and this outreach culminates with a competition every February against one of our nation’s Service Academies. This collaboration is unique to FSU Tennis and college athletics across the nation.

Hyde’s program adopted Tallahassee native, Grace Kerwin. In June of 2013, Grace was diagnosed with Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM), a rare autoimmune disease, resulting in muscle weakness. Grace joined the Florida State team through a program called Team Impact, which places young kids with sports teams in an effort to ‘improve the quality of life for children facing life-threatening and chronic illnesses through the power of team’.

Hyde graduated from Florida State in 1995.  She began her coaching career as an assistant for the Seminoles prior to heading north to the University of Iowa in 1995. Hyde spent two years in the Midwest before returning to the south with an assistant coaching at the University of Alabama (1997-98).

Hyde moved on to coach at the University of North Carolina in 1998-99 where she established herself as one of the best young coaches in the sport. With her assistance, UNC enjoyed one of its best seasons in program history, moving from outside all the national polls to a top-25 ranking and the school’s first NCAA tournament berth.

In 1999, Hyde accepted her first head coaching position at the University of Houston. She spent five increasingly successful years with the Cougars before returning to Tallahassee, where she first started her collegiate tennis career.

Hyde has served on the ITA Southeast Region Committee for the past nine years and most recently served as Regional Chair for three years. Hyde was also selected to coach the USTA U18 Florida Section team, representing at the U18 National Team Championships. In July 2016, Hyde led Team Florida to a fourth-place finish in the prestigious event that regularly includes the top junior players in the United States.

The Alpharetta, Ga., native posted an impressive career with the Seminoles establishing herself as a four-year letter winner, NCAA Tournament participant (1994) and ACC flight champion in doubles alongside teammate Jenny Graf. Hyde captained the 1994 Seminole squad whose No. 17 ranking previously stood for sixteen years as the highest year-end ranking until 2010’s No. 14 finish.

Hyde earned a Master’s Degree from Florida State in Sport Management in 2011.