Issue link: http://catalog.e-digitaleditions.com/i/53618
ASSISTANT COACH COACHES BIOS THE GLORIA FILE COACHES BIOS FRESNO STATE WOMEN'S TENNIS HEAD COACH .................................................................... and Beier Ko. He also helped train Martina Navratilova. WAC title. The Bulldogs also received a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Thibodeau quickly made his presence felt during the 2004 season. The Bulldogs won the Western Athletic Conference title, reached the round of 16 at the NCAA Tournament and guided Jelena Pandzic to the final of the NCAA Singles Tour- nament - all in Thibodeau's first season. Players have received individual awards on an incredible level under Thibodeau. In 2004, Pandzic became the first player in Fresno State history to receive an individual national award when she was selected the Intercollegiate Tennis Associa- tion's Rookie of the Year. She also was honored as the WAC Player of the Year and WAC Freshman of the Year. Gloria has won four WAC Player of the Year titles. Gloria and Kucerkova earned WAC Freshman of the Year honors in each of their first seasons. Gloria was also named the 2009 ITA Northwest Re- gion Senior Player of the Year and Kucerkova and Petukhova collected the 2009 ITA National Doubles Team of the Year award. Just as impressive as Fresno State's on-court success has been the way Thibodeau's players have excelled in the class- room. The Bulldogs received distinction as an ITA All-Aca- demic team in 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 awarded to those programs that achieve an overall GPA over 3.2. In 2009, the Bulldogs achieved a team GPA of 3.6, while Gloria, Petukhova, Kucerkova, Danon Beatty and Bruna Paes earned Academic All-WAC honors. Petukhova and Gloria each re- ceived ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District honors and Gloria was an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American. Thibodeau came to Fresno State from the University of Ari- zona, where he served as the assistant women's tennis coach from 2000-03. While there, he was fundamental in helping lead the Wildcats from a team who was ranked in the 50s nationally to two NCAA Tournament appearances and a place among the nation's Top 25. In addition, from September to November in 2001, Thibodeau served as Arizona's interim head coach after the departure of Brad Dancer, who left to become Fresno State's men's tennis coach. Thibodeau was a national coach with the Canadian Tennis Federation from 1997-01, traveling around the world to tour- naments and clinics. With the Canadian Tennis Federation, he supervised national training camps, coached members of the national junior team and assisted with the Canadian Federa- tion Cup squad. With the Canadian Tennis Federation, he coached such touring professionals as Helen Kelesi, So- nya Jeyaseelan, Renee Simpson, Marie-Eve Pelletier 2011 24 being forced to deal with the eligibility issues and sig- nificant injuries to half of the lineup, Thibodeau still man- aged to lead his squad to a 16-9 record and their fourth Thibodeau received his bachelor's degree in science/ physical activity from the University of Sherbrooke (Quebec) in 1997. With this background, Thibodeau owns extensive knowledge of physical conditioning, sport psychology and sports management. Thibodeau is a native of Repentigny, Quebec, and is fluent in French. He has a young daughter named Camelia Blue. MELANIE GLORIA SECOND YEAR.....................GRADUATE INTERN Melanie Gloria is starting her second year on the Bulldogs women's tennis program coaching staff. Throughout her years at Fresno State, Gloria has established her- self as one of the program's most well-known and decorated play- ers. Gloria helped bring Fresno State to their highest team ranking at No. 13. She also assisted in the Bulldogs eighth-straight WAC title and helped guide the team four times to the Sweet 16. During her career at Fresno State, Gloria was named WAC Player of the Year, four times (2006-2009), WAC Freshman of the Year in 2006 and Bulldog of the Year in 2009. In 2009, Gloria was named WAC Player of the Year (fourth consecu- tive year), All-WAC First Team Singles and All-WAC First Team Dou- bles. Ranked No.18, she competed in the NCAA Singles Tournament, for the third time in her career, and advanced to the second round after defeating No. 12 Irina Falconi of Georgia Tech. Also, ranked at No. 23, Gloria and Tinesta Rowe, doubles partner, earned a bid for the NCAA Doubles Tournament. Gloria concluded her career with 123 singles wins, good for second place in school history. At the end of the 2009 season, Gloria was the recipient of the Joe Kearney Award which is given each year to the best female and male student-athlete in the WAC. In her first season at Fresno State, Gloria established herself as an NCAA singles participant .................................................... EDUCATION BIRTHDATE: JUNE 19TH, 1987 HOMETOWN: MONTREAL, CANADA .................................................... UNDERGRADUATE: FRESNO STATE, B.S. IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS, 2010 .................................................... COACHING EXPERIENCE PLAYING EXPERIENCE Collegiate exPerienCe: Fresno state (2005 - FALL 2008) .................................................... • Fresno state, 2010-Present 2012 25 WOMEN'S TENNIS .................................................... PERSONAL FRESNO STATE SEASON WITH THE BULLDOGS: SECOND DATE HIRED: SEPTEMBER 2010 and finished the year ranked No. 23. She helped the Dogs advance to the sweet sixteen and was named the ITA Northwest Region Rookie of the Year. During the fall 2006 tournament season, Gloria was a 2006 ITA All-American Final- ist, a semifinalist at the ITA Northwest Regional Cham- pionships and a semifinalist at the ITA National Indoor Championships. In the 2006-07 season, Gloria continued her win- ning streak as reaching her highest ranking at No. 2. She finished the season as a 2007 NCAA All-American. She was a first-team All- WAC selection in singles and doubles and reached the NCAA Round of 16 in singles. Continuing her success- ful career as a Bulldog, Gloria earned First-Team All-WAC hon- ors in the 2007-08 season, in both singles and doubles. She won a total of 29 singles matches playing primarily at the No.1 position and won a total of 37 doubles matches. She finished the spring season ranked No. 15 in singles and No. 2 in doubles. Gloria helped Fresno State win the WAC team championship and earn a spot in the NCAA team tournament. In spring 2008, Gloria was a NCAA doubles finalist with Tinesta Rowe. In her final season, fall 2008, Gloria was ranked No. 1 in the nation in doubles at the beginning of the season. She compiled 11 wins during the fall season bringing her career singles win total to 98. Prior to Gloria's time at Fresno State she won five Junior ITF events and achieved her highest ranking in 2005 at No. 89 ITF (G18). She also achieved her high- est WTA ranking in singles at No. 287. She was a four- time Canadian Junior Champion (twice in singles and doubles).