Lise Gregory - Women's Tennis Coach - UNC Asheville Athletics

Lise Gregory

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
lgregory@unca.edu
Phone:
251-6888

Gregory coached her final season with the Bulldogs in 2024-25, with the team going 12-7 and 4-1 in the Big South Conference. Asheville posted two First Team All-Conference Singles selections in Angelina Joy Hug and Alexis Nyborg, while Ari Siegel and Keira Stewart earned First Team All-Conference honors in Doubles. Elizabeth Tindera was named a Second Team All-Conference selection in Singles, while she and Hug were also named Second Team All-Conference in Doubles. Nyborg was also named to the Big South Conference All-Academic Team. Asheville collected five Player of the Week honors on the season with three by Hug, one by Louise Booker and one by Tindera. The Bulldogs also earned three Freshman of the Week honors with two coming from Keira Stewart and one from Julia Caffarena. Valeria Centeno, Hug, Nyborg and Avery Sager each also earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors.

Former professional tennis player Lise Gregory is entering the 2024-25 campaign in her 18th season as head coach of the UNC Asheville women’s tennis program.

The native of South Africa was the head coach of the men’s and women’s program from July of 2007 to 2013 before handing the reins of the men’s program to Tom Hand in the fall of 2013.

Asheville achieved plenty more in 2023-24, going 16-4, winning both the Big South Conference Regular Season and Tournament championships and earning the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. Asheville again racked up the end-of-year awards after another phenomenal season. Linge Steenkamp earned Player of the Year and First Team All-Conference honors in both singles and doubles along with partner Ari Siegel, while Angelina Joy Hug and Rosie Dickson earned First Team All-Conference in doubles play. Alexis Nyborg earned Freshman of the Year honors as well as Second Team All-Conference honors in singles play, along with Louise Booker and Hug on the All-Conference Second Team for singles play. Dickson was also named to the All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year, while Gregory was also named Coach of the Year for the second straight year. Valeria Centeno and Avery Sager also earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors, the first for the program since 2014. The team also collected another ITA All-Academic Team honor, with six ITA Scholar-Athletes.

The 2022-23 season was one to remember for the Bulldogs. Asheville embarked on a 16-match winning streak that encompassed the entire months of February and March, going undefeated in conference play to capture the first Big South Conference regular season championship for the program since 1989. The Bulldogs captured three major awards in the league, with Ami Grace Dougah winning Player of the Year, Elizabeth Tindera winning Freshman of the Year and Gregory winning Coach of the Year. Dougah was Asheville's first Player of the Year since 1990, while the Coach of the Year award was Gregory's second of her career, her first since 2009. Dougah, Linge Steenkamp and Tindera all earned First Team All-Conference Honors in singles play, while Dougah and Rosie Dickson as well as Ari Siegel and Linge Steenkamp earned First Team All-Conference honors in doubles play. Dickson and Avery Sager earned Second Team All-Conference honors in singles play, while Tindera and Valeria Centeno earned Second Team All-Conference honors in doubles play. Dickson was also named to the Big South Conference All-Academic Team. The Bulldogs advanced to the Big South Conference tournament championship for the first time in program history. Asheville also had eight Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athletes and was named an ITA All-Academic Team.

During the 2022 season, the Bulldogs boasted a program-record five players who earned All-Conference Honors, as Lize Alet Morkel earned her second consecutive Scholar Athlete of the Year award, while also being selected to First Team Singles. Additionally, Ami Grace Dougah earned First Team Singles honors, while herself and Rosie Dickson earned First Team Doubles honors for the second straight year. Linge Steenkamp also earned Second Team Singles honors, while herself and Ari Siegel earned Second Team Doubles. Overall, the Bulldogs earned five Player of the Week awards, including three by Dougah, which had only been accomplished three times before in Big South history. The Bulldogs' 13 wins were the most since 2015, and the No. 4 seed in the Big South Tournament was the highest since 2010.

In 2021, the Bulldogs had a trio of players earn All-Big South Honors. Ami Grace Dougah and Lize Alet Morkel were named to the All-Big South First Team in singles, while Rosie Dickson earned an All-Big South Second Team nod in singles. In doubles, the tandem of Dougah and Dickson was one that earned All-Big South First Team honors. Morkel, meanwhile, was named the Big South's Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Morkel enjoyed success on the court as well finishing the season with a 9-4 record in singles and posting an impressive 8-4 mark at the No. 1 flight. Asheville logged a pair of road Big South wins on the 2021 campagin over Longwood and Campbell and finished the season with a 5-8 record overall and 2-4 mark in conference play.

In the 2020 spring season shortened by COVID-19, the Bulldogs were off to an impressive start, holding an 8-2 record, including a 2-0 mark in Big South Competition. Lize Alet Morkel earned back-to-back Big South Player of the Week Awards in February, and Emily Sidor also earned the first Player of the Week Award of her career during the Bulldogs’ opening week. Additionally, Ami Grace Dougah earned a Freshman of the Week nomination in February. Morkel was later named to the Big South All-Academic Team.

The Bulldogs were 6-1 at home in 2020, including a thrilling 4-3 victory against UNC Greensboro to defeat the Spartans for the first time in Gregory’s tenure. In their final two matches of the season, the Bulldogs dominated USC Upstate on the road and won a tightly-contested 4-3 home contest against Winthrop to begin league play undefeated.

During the 2019 season, UNC Asheville women’s tennis picked up 10 wins and were an impressive 8-2 at home. The Bulldogs received the Big South Team Sportsmanship Award. Freshman standout Lize Alet Morkel was named Big South Freshman of the Year with a team leading 15 wins in singles. Morkel was also named first-team All-Conference in singles and second-team All-Conference in doubles along with partner, Taylor Love. Emily Sidor was chosen to the Big South All-Academic Team.

In the 2018 season, the UNC Asheville women’s tennis team picked up nine home wins for the second consecutive season. The Bulldogs were named by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association as an All-Academic Team, while four Bulldogs were tabbed Scholar-Athletes by the ITA for the 2018 season. Kylee Shipley and Hannah Francisco garnered All-League honors in doubles, while Shipley was named all-conference in singles. Emily Sidor was chosen to the Big South Women’s Tennis All-Academic Team.

During the 2017 season, UNC Asheville picked up an impressive nine wins at home over the course of the season. Three Bulldogs garnered Big South all-conference accolades with Hannah Francisco, Kylee Shipley and Emily Sidor all honored by the league. Shipley was chosen all-conference in singles and doubles, while Francisco was named all-league in doubles. Sidor was selected to the Big South All-Academic Team. In the 2017 season, UNC Asheville advanced to the Big South Tournament semifinals in a season that saw the Bulldogs finish with an 11-10 overall record. The Bulldogs were 4-4 in Big South Conference play.

In the midst of the 2016 season, Gregory was honored as the recipient of the 2016 Trailblazer Award at Asheville’s annual Our Turn to Play Luncheon.

In 2012, Gregory was named the Big South Conference Coach of the Year for men’s tennis. She helped guide the Bulldogs to a 12- 10 overall record and 5-2 mark in the Big South Conference. Asheville finished the season in second place in the Big South Conference. Gregory’s club claimed impressive victories over Furman, Coastal Carolina and Winthrop during the season. Both the Bulldog men’s and women’s programs have enjoyed steady improvement under her direction.

In the 2009 season, she led the women’s team to a 12-9 overall record. Gregory was named Big South Conference Coach of the Year for her work. In 2010, Asheville posted a 14-8 overall record, the second best in school history. Asheville has also won in the classroom under Gregory’s leadership.The women’s squad has been designated as an ITA All-Academic team for 15 consecutive years.

This is Gregory’s second tour of duty with the Asheville program. She served as an assistant during the 2004-05 season and helped lead the women’s team to an 11-8 overall record. It was just the second winning season for the Bulldog program in the previous 18 years at the time.

Gregory lived in Asheville during the 2004-05 year before moving on to Vanderbilt where she served as Director of Facilities and Operations for one year.

Gregory was the head coach at Florida State for eight years from 1996 until 2004. She enjoyed tremendous success both on and off the court at Florida State. Over her eight years at FSU, the Seminoles made seven trips to the NCAA Tournament and earned seven straight Golden Torch Awards - an honor bestowed on the Florida State team with the highest GPA. Gregory has the second highest winning percentage in FSU women’s tennis coaching history with a career record of 119-83 for a .584 winning percentage.

FSU’s best season under Gregory came in 1998-99 when it placed three players on the All-ACC team for the first time in school history. The Seminoles won 118 of 168 matches that season. She was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year in 1999. Lise also earned another Coach of the Year honor in 2004.

As a player at Miami, Gregory earned an amazing seven NCAA All-America honors for her singles and doubles play as well as an NCAA doubles championship in 1986 with teammate Ronni Reis. The duo compiled an impressive 84-10 record over four years, while Miami was consistently ranked among the nation’s Top Five. Gregory was named to Tennis Magazine’s All-Star team in both 1986 and 1987.

She is a member of the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame.

As a professional, Gregory won nine tournament titles in 16 finals appearances, including seven Virginia Slims doubles championships on the way to a career-high No. 18 world doubles ranking in 1990. She also won the singles title at the $25,000 Challenger in Philadelphia in 1987. Gregory was a doubles quarterfinalist at the Australian Open, a Grand Slam event, as a member of one of the top eight teams in the world that participated in the year-ending Virginia Slims Championship.