College tennis: UH-Hilo hires another coach in McDermott

The only constant for UH-Hilo has been change, but Tina McDermott will try to alter all of that.

McDermott is the program’s fifth coach in the past four years, the school announced Monday.

“Her playing, coaching and teaching experience will assist her in building and leading a program that we can all be proud of,” athletic director Patrick Guillen said in a release. “As a former top-ranked player, NCAA Division I student-athlete and coach last year at Whittier College, coach McDermott understands what it takes to be successful. But most importantly, she is committed to providing the best student experience possible and developing the whole person through academics and the sport of tennis. I couldn’t be more pleased to have Coach McDermott join the Vulcans ‘ohana.’”

The coaching position has been a revolving door for the Vulcans since Kula Oda resigned after 15 seasons at the helm of the Vulcans in 2012.

The school announced Nate Gross as coach in July, but a university spokesperson said Gross resigned. Carlos Quijano coached UH-Hilo in 2015 after Karl Sloss led the way in 2013 and 2014. Scott Hansen was hired as Oda’s successor, but like Gross, Hansen never coached a match before resigning.

McDermott was the head women’s coach at NCAA Division III Whittier (Calif.) since 2014. Her 2015 squad finished 5-19 overall and 3-8 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Ranked 25th as an 18-year-old in Southern California, McDermott was a four-year player at NCAA Division I University of California-Irvine.

“I am looking forward to helping the tennis program go to the next level,” McDermott said in a release. “I have an incredible amount of respect for the University of Hawaii at Hilo and I am so excited to be a Vulcan. There is an unbelievable commitment to excellence and it all starts with chancellor Donald Straney and Patrick Guillen. I look forward to years of success and a lot of great memories.”