The University of Mississippi Athletics
In Good Hands
11/27/2001 | Women's Tennis
Nov. 27, 2001
By Kimberly Ling
Assistant Sports Information Director
He won a national championship at the NCAA Division II level. He was one of the top assistant coaches in Division I, helping direct the Rebel tennis program to new heights during the last six years here at Ole Miss. Now, he will get the opportunity to coach his own team in the premier conference in the country. On Oct. 18, Mark Beyers was named the third head coach in the history of Ole Miss women's tennis.
Widely-regarded as an up-and-coming star in the tennis coaching ranks, Ole Miss' athletic admin-istration didn't have to look far to find the right person to fill the shoes left by Jerry Montgomery, who retired from collegiate coaching. Under Montgomery, the Lady Rebels reached unprecedented heights, winning the program's first SEC title in 1999 and advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals twice.
No stranger to women's tennis, Beyers spent three years (1992-95) as head coach of the women's tennis team at Armstrong Atlantic State in Georgia. During his three years, the team captured the NCAA Division II Championship, posted a 50-8 record and won the Peach Belt Conference (PBC)each year. Beyers earned PBC Coach of the Year honors in 1994 and 1995. In 1995, he received NCAA Division II South Regional Coach of the Year honors. His teams ranked 10th, ninth and first, respectively, in the Division II national rankings. After three years at the Division II level and six years as an assistant with the Ole Miss men's squad, Beyers is happy to be guiding his own pro-gram.
"I am very excited about the opportunity to be the head coach of the women's program at Ole Miss," Beyers said. "It's not every day that one gets to be a head coach in the best conference in the nation. The fact that it happened to me at Ole Miss, where I've spent the last six years, makes it more special. Coach Montgomery has put this program on the map. I look forward to continuing that tradition."
As a player, Beyers, a native of Tilburg, Holland, earned four letters at Armstrong Atlantic State, posted a 99-21 record and led his team to a national ranking of No. 4. He earned All-America honors twice in doubles and singles.
Beyers received a Bachelor of Arts degree fom Armstrong Atlantic State in 1991. After graduating,Beyers enjoyed a brief professional career on the satellite tour before returning to his alma mater to coach the women's team. In 1998, Beyers became the youngest person ever to be inducted into the Armstrong Atlantic State Athletic Hall of Fame.
Although he had his eye on becoming a head coach at a Division I school, Beyers didn't give much thought to it happening right here at Ole Miss.
"At some point I did imagine being a head coach at a major Division I program, but if some-one had told me two months ago that I would be the head coach of the Ole Miss women's tennis team, I would have told them they were crazy," Beyers said. "I figured that if anyone was going to be here for another 25 years and retire here, it would be Coach Montgomery."
Beyers credentials speak for themselves. He reached the pinnacle of his profession at a small school. In the fall of 1995, Beyers came to Ole Miss and helped take a program that had reached the NCAA finals that year to an elite level on a consistent basis. Now, he looks forward to the challenge of keeping the women's tennis program in the national spotlight - and even taking it up a notch.
"The women's program has a great tradition," Beyers noted. "They have been ranked in the top 10 and have been to the NCAA Championships. I want to continue that success and take it a step further. More importantly, I want to continue the excellence in the classroom. We led all sports on campus last year with a 3.62 grade-point average. That's an amazing accomplishment. The entire package is important to me, therefore, we are going to go out and recruit the best student-athlete who wants to be successful on the court and in the classroom.
"I want the girls in the United States and around the world to know that we have a great program and a great university. Coach (Whitt)Taber and I are going to be very visible around the national and international tournaments, looking to recruit the best student-athletes to come here because I think Ole Miss has a lot to offer a student both academically and athletically."
In his first season, Beyers has seven letterwinners back from a team a ear ago that made the NCAA Championships for the ninth time. The team was young and inexperienced and had to deal with numerous injuries during the season that resulted in several tough losses. With the returning veterans and a stronger work ethic, Beyers believes the Lady Rebels have what it takes to turn some of those close losses into wins this year.
"We have to stay healthy," Beyers said. "The team has worked hard in the weight room to get stronger and become quicker on the court. Hopefully, that will pay dividends in the matches. We had a very young team last year. We were very close to having a winning record in the SEC, but we had a lot of 4-3 team losses. Having more experience will hopefully turn some of those 4-3 losses into 4-3 wins."
Leading the team this year are senior co-captains Camilla Gould and Alesya Ignatieva. Junior Mira Radu is having an outstanding year so far. At the prestigious Riviera All-American Championships, Radu advanced all the way from the pre-qualifying to the main draw and defeated five nationally-ranked players along the way. She qualified for the Omni Hotels National Indoor Championships and may crack the top 20 in the final fall rankings, which will be released in December.
"Camilla and Alesya want to go out on a winning note in their final year," Beyers said. "They feel a since of urgency to make something happen this season, with it being their last year to play collegiate tennis. With the fall that Mira had, she is going to make a tremendous impact. She has all the capabilities of being a top-20 player in the country, and I feel like this year is going to work out for her."
Winning is something Beyers has become accustomed to in his nine years of coaching. He has achieved plenty of success to validate that. During his nine years of coaching collegiate tennis, Beyers has coached 19 All-Americans, 12 Academic All-Americans and four Academic All-America teams. He hopes to add to that list and believes hard work is the key to success. "I want players who are going to work hard and give me 110 percent everyday," Beyers said. "That's what I do, and I expect nothing less from my players.As long as the players give 110 percent on the court and in the classroom, that will make my job easier."