UTEP Tennis: Aspillaga Named Head Coach
EL PASO, Texas –Director of Athletics Bob Stull named Roberto Aspillaga as UTEP’s women’s tennis head coach onWednesday. Aspillaga succeeds Cristina Moros, who was named USF’s head coach last month.
“We’re excited about Roberto taking the reins of our tennis program,” Stull said. “Cristina Moros did an outstanding job over the last year and we were looking for someone who could hit the ground running and build on what she has already established. Roberto has a proven track record as a coach and recruiter. He was an assistant coach at three first-rate Division I institutions and in only his second year as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin, led his team to a conference title. We’re excited for UTEP Tennis to take the next step under his leadership.”
“I would like to thank Bob Stull, along with the entire athletic department, for entrusting me to lead the women’s tennis program at UTEP,” Aspillaga said. “I look forward toleading a great group of student-athletes and continue to build on what coach Moros and the team achieved last season. I am excited to start this new process and ecstatic to live in the city of El Paso.”
Aspillaga comes from Stephen F. Austin State University, where he was the women’s tennis head coach sinceJuly 2013. Under his guidance, the Ladyjacks forged a 10-1 league record in 2015 while earning the Southland Conference regular season championship. Overall the team finished 16-7.
SFA claimed a pair of Southland Conference awards following the 2015 campaign. Vivienne Kulicke was named the SLC Freshman of the Year, while Dhanielly Quevedo was tabbed the conference’s Newcomer of the Year.
SFA went 12-11 in Aspillaga’s first year in Nacogdoches, including a 7-5 league mark. The Ladyjacks claimed the 2014 ITA All-Academic Team Award. The team GPA improved to 3.6 during the 2013-14 school year (second-highest among all teams at SFA).
A native of Santiago, Chile, Aspillaga was also an assistant at Kentucky, Purdue and Colorado prior to landing his first head coaching position.He was associate head coach at Colorado.
He competed collegiately at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky. He graduated with a bachelor of science in sports administration inMay 2009. He’s currently working on his masters in human performance. While at Georgetown, Aspillaga was a dual-sport athlete, competing in tennis and varsity soccer. Aspillaga was ranked as high as No. 33 in the ITA National NAIA individual rankings. He was also named a Mid-South all-conference player in 2008. Aspillaga played at the No. 1, 2 & 3 singles spots, while being named team captain for three seasons (2007, 2008 & 2009).
Following graduation, he was a volunteer assistant women’s coach at Kentucky till July 2010 and an assistant women’s coach at Purdue from August 2010 – June 2012. Aspillaga was named associate women’s head coach at Colorado in July 2012. At Colorado, he helped guide the Buffs to a season-best No. 75 ITA National Ranking onApril 2, 2013.
While at Purdue, Aspillaga helped the Boilermakers garner the highest-ranked recruiting class (no. 8) in school history. For his efforts, Aspillaga was named the 2012 Wilson/ITA Regional Assistant Coach of the Year, capping off a season in which Purdue won the first Big 10 championship in program history.
Courtesy: UTEP Athletics
