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Alan Dils begins his 14th season as the head coach for the University of New Mexico men's tennis team. Dils holds the highest winning record at 184-118 (.609) and is the longest tenured coach in program history. Dils has led back-to-back seasons of 20-plus wins with a record of 20-6 in 2009 and a 20-8 mark in 2008. In 2009, the Lobos captured the Mountain West Conference Tournament Championship, earning an at-large berth to the NCAA Team Tournament. In 2008, the Lobos earned a share of the MWC regular season title with a 5-1 conference record. Due to his tremendous leadership and astounding success, Dils earned the MWC Coach of the Year honor in 2009 and 2008 while also garnering ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year both seasons. UNM finished the 2009 season ranked 45th and the 2008 season 41st. Dils, who now has four MWC Coach of the Year awards, has been involved in 10 of UNM's 11 conference titles, including as head coach in 2000, 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2009, and as an assistant when the Lobos won five consecutive titles from 1991-1995. Five All-Americans have emerged since Dils joined the Lobo coaching staff, two while he was an assistant and three during his head coaching tenure, including two-time All-American Pepe Caballero and the first singles All-American since 1976 in Matt Amgwerd. The Lobos have also made five NCAA team appearances (1997, 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2009). UNM has sent seven singles players and five doubles pairs to the NCAAs under Dils' tutelage. For the first time in UNM's history, the Lobos had a doubles team win three straight matches during the 1998 NCAA Championships. Caballero and Jeff Williams beat doubles teams that were ranked No. 1, No. 8 and No. 13. The duo lost in the semifinal round, but earned All-America status. Since Dils has been with the program, the Lobos appeared in seven consecutive NCAA singles, doubles or team tournament appearances. With Dils as head coach, New Mexico has had 50 all-conference honors. Five Lobos were named to the singles/doubles All-MWC team for the 2002-03 season and in 2007-08, records for the most number of players on a postseason team. Dils has coached two MWC freshmen of the year in Max Jones and Johnny Parkes. Jones is also a four-time all-conference recipient and Parkes was selected as the MWC Player of the Year and ITA Mountain Region Player of the Year in 2009. The men's tennis program achieved its highest individual national ranking in January 2005 with David Kowalski and Ryan Stotland notching a No.3 ranking. Stotland and Kowlaski also made it to the championship match of the 2004 ICY HOT/ITA All-American Championships under Dils, marking the first national tournament championship appearance in the program's history. Academically, the Lobos garnered their fourth ITA All-Academic award in 2008. Eighteen ITA Scholar Athletes, 22 MWC Scholar Athletes, and 39 players have been named to the MWC All-Academic team since 2002. Since 2000, the Lobos have recorded five straight terms with a team GPA of 3.0 or higher and 10 total. Dils guided UNM to its first ever ITA All-Academic award in 2003 after the men achieved a 3.52 GPA for the 2002-03 season. It is the highest GPA for a UNM men's team. The Lobos matched the 2003 performance in 2005 with a 3.51 GPA and in 2006 with a 3.38 GPA to collect ITA All-Academic honors as well. In 2000, Amgwerd picked up the MWC Student-Athlete of the Year award. Several Lobos have also collected hardware for the character and sportsmanship they display, something Dils stresses. In 1999, Caballero received the first-ever UNM Tow Diehm Award given to a UNM athlete who exemplifies leadership, character and commitment to team. Divan Coetzee garnered the same award in 2005. Bart Scott received the Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship Award in 2002 while Graeme Kassautzki picked up the honor in 2009. Though he was named head coach in 1996, Dils has been associated with the UNM program for the past 24 years. He graduated from UNM in 1989 with a degree in Business Administration and was a four-year letterman on the tennis team from 1984-89. In 1987, Dils and doubles partner Steve Bickham won the Western Athletic Conference doubles title and advanced to the NCAA Championships. In 1989, Dils played in the NCAA Championships as a singles competitor and was the WAC singles runner-up. Following Dils' playing career, Dils served as an assistant coach to current Associate Athletic Director Tim Cass. Over seven years the Lobos won five WAC Championships and produced one WAC player of the year, two All-Americans and 16 All-WAC players. The duo also guided the Lobos to the NCAA Championships every year between 1991-96 and during the 1994-95 season, the Lobos achieved a No.6 ranking. Dils has served on the Region VII (Mountain) Tennis Committee, where he helped decide policies, rankings, and seedings for teams and players in the region. He served as the committee's regional chair from 2002-06. Dils is a native of Belen, New Mexico. He married the former Dawn Myers in June 2000 and the couple has two daughters, Brenyn Reese and Ayla Victoria. |
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