ORLANDO, Fla. – The Knights named Austin Carrola as Director of Tennis Operations on Friday afternoon after one season as the UCF men's tennis volunteer assistant coach.
"We couldn't be more excited for Austin to move into the role of Director of Tennis Operations," Director of Tennis John Roddick said, "He has been with this team for a year and has had great experience as a head coach, so both programs are lucky to have him."
"I am honored to be accepting the position of Director of Tennis Operations," Austin Carrola said, "This past year, I enjoyed my experience being the volunteer assistant coach for the UCF Men's Tennis Team during their historic season. I'm thrilled that I will be assisting Coach Roddick's and Koniecko's successful programs and look forward to the upcoming season."
During his time at UCF, Carrola played an important role in what was one of the Knights' most successful seasons yet. The team posted a 22-4 record, won its first conference championship as part of The American and had its first NCAA Tournament victory as a team. The 22 victories is the highest win total achieved as a Division I program and is just one of three 22+ win seasons in team history. A dozen of UCF's 22 wins were over ranked opponents and 14 of their victories were consecutive, leading them into the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Carrola helped guide the Knights to their highest ranking in program history, bursting into the top 10 as high as No. 9. Gabriel Decamps repeated as an All-American in singles, becoming the first Knight to be named an All-American more than once. Trey Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel were tabbed as All-Americans in doubles, becoming the sixth and seventh All-Americans in program history. All three were nationally seeded in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. Decamps became the first member of the Black and Gold to go beyond the second round of the NCAA Singles Championships, reaching the quarterfinals where he fell to the top seed of the draw.
Carrola introduced the team's "Shake and Bake" motto, something that stuck with the squad throughout the season.
Prior to UCF, Carrola was the head tennis coach at Lake View High School in San Angelo, Texas. The team earned District, Bi-District and Area Champions in the fall of 2019. Carrola helped the Chiefs to a ranking of No. 16 in the state and No. 6 in their region at the UIL 4A level. The team collected 15 wins in 19 matches and went undefeated in their district.
Before his time at the helm of Lake View, Carrola served was part of the staff at Schreiner University. He began his career there as the assistant men's and women's tennis coach for two seasons, helping both teams to top 20 rankings in the ITA's DIII West Region. Carrola was promoted to head coach of both programs in the fall of 2017 and continued to help the team succeed. The team never had a season below .500 while Carrola was a head and assistant coach, with the men's team climbing as high as No. 17 and the women reaching a No. 19 ranking in their respective regions.
Not only did Carrola coach at Schreiner, but he played there as well. He spent his four years playing No. 1 or No. 2 singles while remaining at the top doubles spot for the entirety of his career. He had a spectacular year in 2015, earning a First Team SCAC All-Conference nod as well as being named the MVP of his team. He went undefeated at No. 1 doubles during the 2015 SCAC Conference Championship and was named as one of the top 10 players in the conference that year.
Carrola earned his M.A. in Sport Management with Coaching Administration at Liberty University and his B.A. in Sport Management at Schreiner and he had the chance to teach tennis professionally during his time there. Austin and his wife, Breigh, now live in Orlando with their two rescue dogs, Mowgli and Zander. After moving to Orlando, Carrola accepted a position as a tennis professional at the USTA National Campus.
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