Jayhawks announce volunteer assistant coach Kenna Kilgo
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas women’s tennis head coach Todd Chapman welcomed former player Kenna Kilgo to the KU coaching staff on Friday as a volunteer assistant coach.
Kilgo played at Texas Tech where she was recruited and coached by Chapman who was the assistant coach for two years before he came to Kansas at the start of the 2013-14 season. In her four years, Kilgo became the first Lady Raider in program history to participate in four-straight NCAA Tournaments and led Texas Tech to its first Sweet 16 appearance. She also competed in the NCAA Individual Doubles Championship in 2012 and 2013.
Kilgo and her team won the Big 12 Championship back-to-back years in the 2012 and 2013 spring seasons. She was invited to the ITA All-American in singles twice and doubles three times. Kilgo’s highest career singles rank was No. 58, achieved on January 18, 2014, and ranked as high as No. 6 in doubles on September 15, 2012.
“Having the opportunity to recruit Kenna and coach her for two years, there’s one word that comes to mind when I think of her and that is competitor,” said Chapman. “That’s one of the main reasons I’m so excited to bring her on board with our coaching staff is because she’s an unbelievable competitor. There was never a worry or a doubt that once she stepped on the court that she was going to compete and be a tough, fiery competitor.
“That’s something that definitely fits in with our beliefs as a coaching staff and our culture that we’re trying to build, to have a team of those. Adding a coach that played a short time ago makes her someone the girls can learn a lot from.”
Kilgo also excelled off the court. She was named a two-time ITA Scholar-Athlete (2012, 2013), selected for the Academic All-Big 12 Team (2013, 2014), on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll six times (2012, 2013, 2014), made the Dean’s List twice (2012, 2013), and earned a spot on the President’s List (2013).
“Throughout your years of coaching there’s always players you identify that you think could be really good coaches if they chose the profession,” said Chapman. “With Kenna, I knew she had the intangibles to be a coach. She had the mindset if that was something she chose to do. It’s exciting to me that she’s interested in pursuing coaching and coaching at a high level. We’re excited to add her to our staff and it’s a great situation for our program.”
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