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Mat Iandolo enters his second year as the head coach of the University of Utah women's tennis program, looking to build on a 15-9 effort in his inaugural season at the helm. The Utes finished the year ranked No. 54, earning their first national rating in the year's final poll since the 2004 campaign.
An experienced collegiate coach, Iandolo has been working with collegiate players for more than 25 years, since his graduation from Weber State in 1983. He came to Utah prior to the 2007-08 season after spending 16 years at Purdue.
"I came to the University of Utah because of Harry James," Iandolo said of the former Utah coach. "He is one of my coaching idols. I am very proud to be a tennis coach at his university."
After taking on the Purdue program in 1991, Iandolo started building it from the ground up. Purdue totaled just nine wins in Iandolo's first three seasons, but made a major turnaround in 1995, winning 14 overall matches and six Big Ten contests en route to a fourth-place conference finish. Purdue had never finished higher than fifth (1982) in the Big Ten prior to Iandolo's appointment.
In 1998, the Boilermakers enjoyed their most successful year under Iandolo, winning 14 overall matches while posting a program-best 8-2 record in Big Ten play, good enough for a second-place regular-season finish. During the 1998 spring season, Purdue collected two upsets over Top 30-ranked opponents, won matches against Northwestern and Indiana for the first time ever, and earned a final national ranking of 44th. For his efforts in that memorable season, Iandolo garnered Big Ten Coach of the Year honors.
Iandolo guided the Boilermakers to another winning campaign and yet another NCAA Championship appearance in 2003. Iandolo again was honored for his work in leading Purdue to a 6-4 Big Ten record, as he received Big Ten Coach of the Year recognition at season's end. In 2006, the Boilermakers made the NCAA regional finals and posted a big win over No. 17 Harvard along the way.
Dedicated to success on the court and in the classroom, Iandolo's Purdue players collected Academic All-Big Ten laurels 62 times. Five of his teams since 1999 have received ITA All-Academic recognition. Prior to accepting the position at Purdue in July 1991, Iandolo worked as an assistant tennis coach at Kentucky (1991), UCLA (1986-87), California (1985-86), San Diego State (1983-85) and Weber State (1982-83). Before joining the staff at Kentucky, Iandolo was a tennis professional at Four Lakes Athletic Club in Lisle, Ill., where he was a personal coach to seven nationally-ranked junior tennis players and two world-ranked women's professionals. After earning a bachelor's degree from Weber State in psychology in 1983, Iandolo competed on the USTA Satellite Tour in addition to being an assistant coach at his alma mater.
