NATCHITOCHES -- Northwestern State has named Freddy Gomez, whose contributions dramatically elevated programs at Virginia Tech and Louisiana Tech, as the new head coach of the Lady Demons tennis program.
 
Athletic director Greg Burke announced the hiring of Gomez, which is subject to the approval of the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, which includes Northwestern. Gomez succeeds Olga Bazhanova, a standout player for the Lady Demons before joining the coaching staff in 2013, then serving as head coach for three very successful seasons.
 
Gomez, 35, has a master's degree from LSU. He was head coach at Louisiana Tech in 2012 before his stint as assistant coach at Virginia Tech.
 
"Freddy will be a good fit for our athletic program and most importantly, for the young ladies on our women's tennis team," said Burke. "He is family-oriented and will serve as a good role model who will be supportive of our student-athletes in all aspects of their lives.
 
"From a tennis perspective, he has been involved with winning programs. He understands - and will embrace - the challenge of sustaining the high level of success which has been established within the NSU women's tennis program," Burke said. "As a head coach, and as an assistant coach, he made immediate impact to dramatically improve the teams he coached."
 
In his one year as head coach at Louisiana Tech, Gomez led the Techsters to their best-ever conference finish and pulled in a recruiting class that ranked 14^th nationally among mid-major programs.
 
For the following five years, he was the top assistant coach at Virginia Tech, largely responsible for recruiting classes that were the best in program history, with national top-20 rankings, 14^th and 16^th. The women's program reached its best Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, cracking the top 30, while improving from last place in the Atlantic Coast Conference to the second-ranked team in the ITA Atlantic Region.
 
Prior to coaching collegiately, Gomez worked at the renowned Evert Tennis Academy, coaching nationally-ranked juniors and professional players.
 
He takes over a program that has made three NCAA Tournament appearances this decade (2010, 2013, 2015) while reaching the Southland Conference Tournament championship match six times in eight seasons. The Lady Demons have a 75-23 conference dual match record in the decade and have 22 Academic All-Southland Conference selections in the past eight seasons.
 
"I would like to thank our athletic director Mr. Burke, WRAC Director Mr. (Patric) DuBois, President (Dr. Chris) Maggio and the search and interview committees for their efforts during this process.  I am excited to work for Northwestern State University and the opportunity to lead NSU tennis," said Gomez. "I'm honored to lead a program with so much tradition and success. 
 
"Our goal is to build higher levels of success, attain significant national recognition, and be the top Division I team in the state, athletically and academically. We will strive to win the Southland Conference each year and make consistent appearances at the national tournament," he said.
 
Gomez was an outstanding junior player, ranked as the No. 1 junior in his native Venezuela in the upper age groups. He was ranked as high as 312 in the International Tennis Federation's junior world rankings. 
 
He starred collegiately at Toledo before graduating in 2005 and earning his master's degree at LSU in kinesiology/sports management.  Gomez and his wife Julie, a native of Hammond, have a 3-year-old son, Matias.
 
"My family and I are excited to be in Louisiana, our home state, joining the NSU Demons, and we look forward to being part of the Natchitoches community," he said.

 "Our tennis program at NSU will continue to operate on strong principles and values shared by our athletic department, coaching staff and players, and we will continue to expand this philosophy to all areas involving our tennis program on and off the courts.

"I believe that success is a developed habit, and not one act. We will foremost inspire honesty and integrity, hard work and discipline in our routines. We want to motivate student-athletes to achieve full potential, cultivate team camaraderie, and pride in a winning spirit while fostering a fun environment," said Gomez.