Mark Murphy

Kalamazoo College announced the hiring of Mark Murphy as women’s tennis coach and director of tennis facilities on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009.

Mark Murphy completed his first season with the Hornets in 2010, guiding the team to a 14-8 record overall and third-place finish in the MIAA (6-2). Kalamazoo finished third in the MIAA again in 2011 with a 5-3 league record and finished the year ranked 20th in the Central Region.

Murphy's 2012 team finished third in the MIAA with a 6-2 record. Senior Kelsey Hassevoort was recognized as the league's Most Valuable Player while also winning the Karen Caine Award as the league's top scholar athlete in women's tennis.

The Hornets advanced to the MIAA Tournament semifinals in each of Murphy's first three seasons.

The Hornets have had three All-MIAA First Team selections and two All-MIAA Second Team selections during Murphy's tenure.

Murphy came to Kalamazoo College after 11 years as associate head men’s and women’s tennis coach at his alma mater, Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was also the assistant director of Coe’s Clark Racquet Center since 2005.

Murphy played and coached at Coe under Eric Rodgers, a 1979 Kalamazoo College graduate and member of two of Coach George Acker’s NCAA III National Championship teams.
In his 11 years as associate head coach at Coe, Murphy helped guide the Kohawks to nine conference team championships (6 men, 3 women), six conference second place finishes (4 men, 2 women), and eight NCAA III Tournament appearances (6 men, 2 women). He has worked with a combined 93 All-Conference selections, 10 ITA/NCAA All-Americans, and eight conference most valuable players.

In addition to his duties at Coe, Murphy was the head coach of the Iowa USTA Competition Training Center, served as chair of the Iowa District Junior Competition, and taught private lessons as a USPTA (United States Professional Tennis Association) certified instructor. He also was voted as the Most Outstanding Contributor to Junior Tennis in Iowa in 2006.

Murphy graduated from Coe College in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and business administration. He was a three-year letter winner for the Kohawks and member of two Midwest Conference championship teams.

In addition to his responsibilities at Kalamazoo College, Murphy is the Central Regional Chair of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Committee, Central Regional Chair of the ITA Ranking Committee, and is the Head Coach for the USTA/WMTA Marian Baird Wood Girls 18’s Team.
Murphy and his wife, Becca, reside in Portage with their daughter, Eliza.