Jackie Bagwell

Since taking the reins in 1991, Head Coach Jackie Bagwell has established the Amherst College women's tennis program among the elite in NCAA Division III, capturing the NCAA Division III national championship in 1999 and coaching Amherst student-athletes to two singles national championships and six doubles national championships.

Bagwell has amassed 475 dual match wins in her career, third-most among active Division III head coaches, with 449 of those wins coming in her 31 seasons at Amherst. She ranks among the all-time top 10 in both wins and winning percentage in Division III history. Bagwell has led the team to 15 or more wins in 18 campaigns and her teams have posted 20-win seasons on five occasions.

The Kokomo, Indiana, native led the Purple & White to Amherst's first NCAA national championship in any sport as her 1999 squad capped a perfect 19-0 season with a 5-2 win over arch-rival Williams in the national championship match. Bagwell's squads have reached at least the quarterfinals in 24 of the last 27 NCAA Division III Tournaments, including 15 trips to the semifinals, with five national runner-up finishes and four third-place finishes. Since the NESCAC began crowning a conference champion in 2001, Bagwell's teams have captured nine NESCAC titles.

Bagwell’s squads produced back-to-back national singles champions in 1999 and 2000 and have been even more successful in doubles action, taking home the NCAA title on six occasions (2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014). Amherst's six doubles championships are more than any other school in Division III history. Bagwell coached Jordan Brewer '14 and Gabby Devlin '14 as they became the only doubles pair in Division III history to win three national championships and Devlin became only the second woman to win four Division III doubles titles. A total of 26 Amherst student-athletes have earned 62 All-America selections during Bagwell's tenure.

Bagwell earned Boston Area Coach of the Year honors at the annual Boston Sports Awards in September of 2000, going up against former Boston Red Sox manager Jimy Williams and former Boston Bruins head coach Pat Burns — among others — for the honor. Bagwell was named the 2007 and 2014 NESCAC Coach of the Year, and in 2011 she was honored as the ITA's Northeast Coach of the Year.

As an undergrad, Bagwell spent three seasons at Columbus College before transferring to the University of Texas–Permian Basin, where she helped lead the Falcons to an NAIA National Tournament appearance. She graduated from the University of Indiana in 1986 with a degree in history/physical education and worked as a teaching pro at the Jimmy Connors United States Tennis Center in Florida. Prior to moving to Amherst, Bagwell spent three seasons coaching tennis and squash at Hamilton College.