Tennis
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Hometown:
- Poway, Calif.
- Year at Mizzou:
- Fifth Year
- Alma Mater:
- University of Iowa, 2000
- Email:
- schmids@missouri.edu
Entering her fifth year at the helm for Mizzou Tennis, Sasha Schmid continues to build success for the Tigers program both on-and-off the court. The Tigers have posted a 38-63 overall record in Schmid's first fouryears in Columbia. Now inside one of the top collegiate tennis conferences in the SEC, which featured 12 NCAA Tournament teams and the eventual NCAA Champion (Vanderbilt) in 2015, the Tigers continue to face fierce competition each fall and spring season.
The 2014-15 season started off hot as Mizzou won seven of its first nine matches to begin the spring season. The Tigers didn't lose a single team point in five of those seven victories. Mizzou's campaign ended on a high note as Schmid's squad knocked off Arkansas in the opening round of the SEC Tournament. The Tigers toppled the Razorbacks 4-3 in a dramatic comeback. Down 3-1, freshman Clare Raley, sophomore Bea Machado Santos and junior Madison Rhyner won three consecutive singles matches to deliver the win.
This past 2013-14 campaign, Mizzou had a pair of program firsts inside the Southeastern Conference (SEC), including their first conference win over Mississippi State on April 11, 2014 and their first SEC Tournament win over Arkansas on April 16, 2014. Under Schmid's guidance, Cierra Gaytan-Leach was named to the 2014 All-SEC second team, marking the first time a Tigers tennis player earned All-Conference honors since 2005.
Heading in to the 2012-13 season, Mizzou was ranked in the preseason polls to start the year for the first time since 2005. The Tigers would go on to defeat four ranked squads during that year, including a 4-3 win over No. 23 Tennessee on Mar. 31, 2013. Of the team's 12 losses that season, 11 came against ranked opponents, including four to top-10 squads and six to programs ranked within the top-25.
The 2011-12 Tigers posted an 11-12 record and narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament, while facing a difficult schedule that included 15 matches against ranked teams. Over the course of the spring season, Mizzou reached as high as 42nd in the national rankings, the program's highest recognition since 2003. The Tigers earned five wins over ranked foes and earned their first-ever appearance in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Kick-Off Weekend. Additionally, the doubles duo of Tigers' Jamie Mera and Nina Pantic finished the season ranked as the 50th-best doubles team in the nation.
Schmid was named Mizzou's tennis coach on April 26, 2011, following a highly successful 10-year run as head coach at Stetson University. During her tenure at Stetson, Schmid posted an 132-101 overall record, including an impressive 35 combined wins over her last two seasons in DeLand, Fla. The Hatters tennis program tied the school season win total in 2010 with 18 victories, and followed with another impressive 2011 campaign which saw them claim 17 more wins. Stetson went 49-21 overall under Schmid's guidance the last three seasons (2009-11).
In 2009, Schmid earned her third overall and second consecutive Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year award after her Hatters went 14-8 overall and 8-1 in Atlantic Sun conference play. The impressive campaign earned the team a share of the regular season championship and the top seed heading into that year's conference tournament. Stetson advanced to the tournament finals for the third time in their last five years. During the Spring 2009 season, Hatter student-athletes earned both singles and doubles victories against ITA nationally ranked opponents.
Also while at Stetson, Schmid served as the chairperson of both the ITA Southeast Regional Committee and Atlantic Sun Women's Tennis Coaches Committee, and a member of the ITA National Coaches Committee. In 2007, she received the USTA Florida Section Community Service Award, and coached the Florida Section 18U Girls Team at the Federation Cup in Summer 2007.
Overall, Schmid coached 42 Atlantic Sun All-Academic honorees, 19 ITA All-America Academic Award winners, 20 Atlantic Sun All-Conference performers, and 11 Atlantic Sun All-Freshmen Team selections, including 2007 and 2010 Atlantic-Sun Freshmen of the Year Valentina Galbarini and Carolina de los Santos, respectively. Schmid's 2006, 2007 and 2010 Hatters teams received the ITA All-Academic Team Award for having a collective GPA over 3.2, and her teams also consistently produced high-ranking APR scores.
From 1998-2000, Schmid served as an assistant coach for the Iowa women's tennis team. She was responsible for recruiting, team travel, booster correspondence, and organizing free tennis clinics sponsored by the women's tennis team. During the 1999 Hawkeyes season, Schmid helped the team reach the Sweet 16 in their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Iowa also returned to NCAA's the following year in 2000.
In 1996-97, Schmid served as the assistant women's tennis coach at Northwestern University. She was responsible for recruiting, organizing team travel and maintaining the program's budget. A 1996 graduate of the University of Iowa, Schmid was a four-year letterwinner on the Hawkeys tennis team. A mainstay at the team's No. 1 and No. 2 singles spot, Schmid earned the team's Most Valuable Player Award her senior year.
Schmid earned her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Iowa in Dec. 1999, and gained her Bar Admission from the State of Iowa in Feb. 2000. In addition to her coaching, Schmid teaches Sport Law in the Applied Sport Psychology Master's Program at the University of Missouri.
Schmid's husband, Jeff, is a teaching professional at Perche Creek Golf Club and was a volunteer assistant coach for the Mizzou men's golf team for the 2012-13 season. Sasha and Jeff have two daughters, Lucy and Lily.
