The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Women's Tennis
- Title:
- Volunteer Assistant Coach
2nd season at Texas
A former player under head coach Howard Joffe while at Texas A&M, Rachel Pierson is in her second season as the Volunteer Assistant coach at The University of Texas. She was the first player in Texas A&M program history to earn ITA All-America honors in both singles and doubles. Pierson came to Texas after serving as a volunteer assistant coach at Princeton University during the 2018-19 season.
In her first year at UT, the Longhorns posted an 11-3 record (2-0 Big 12 Conference) in the shortened 2020 dual-match season (Covid-19 pandemic) and held the No. 4 spot in the final Oracle/ITA national poll on March 10. UT moved to the No. 3 spot in the national team rankings on Feb. 18, 2020, marking the highest ITA team ranking for the Longhorns since February 2006 when Texas also ranked third nationally. Texas registered victories against five opponents who were among the nation’s Top-25 teams in the final ITA rankings: No. 5 Ohio State, No. 7 North Carolina State, No. 9 Georgia Tech, No. 17 Michigan and No. 21 LSU.
The senior duo of Anna Turati and Bianca Turati both earned recognition as ITA Division I singles All-Americans. This marked the first time since the 1995 season that the Longhorns had at least two players claim ITA singles All-America honors in the same year.
Anna Turati earned her first career ITA singles All-America honor and concluded the season at No. 4 in the final Oracle/ITA national singles rankings (March 3). Bianca Turati claimed her second career ITA singles All-America honor and concluded the year at No. 14 in the final national singles ranking. Anna Turati was named the ITA Texas Regional Most Improved Senior, while the Turati twins shared the ITA Texas Regional Senior Player of the Year honors.
A three-year letterwinner at Texas A&M (2015-17), Pierson earned ITA Texas Region Senior Player of the Year honors in 2017. In her senior year, she garnered a No. 9-16 seed at the NCAA Singles Championship, earning ITA All-America honors in singles, and was tabbed No. 23 in the final ITA national singles rankings. Pierson teamed with Rutuja Bhosale and received a No. 5-8 seed at the NCAA Doubles Championship, becoming the first pair in Texas A&M history to claim ITA All-America honors in doubles. The duo rose to a program-best No. 4 in the ITA doubles rankings (April 11, 2017) before ending the year at No. 9 in the final ITA national rankings.
In her sophomore season (2015), Pierson participated in both the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. She was tabbed No. 30 in the final ITA national singles rankings and teamed with Eva Paalma to conclude the year at No. 15 in the final ITA national doubles rankings. A two-time All-SEC first-team choice (2015 and 2017) and three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection, Pierson earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Texas A&M in 2017.
Prior to her time at Texas A&M, Pierson was a one-year letterwinner as a freshman at the University of Virginia (2014). She paired with Julia Elbaba and received a No. 5-8 seed at the NCAA Doubles Championship, claiming ITA All-America honors in doubles. Pierson and Elbaba became the first doubles team in Virginia history to earn ITA All-America accolades. The duo rose to as high as No. 3 in the ITA doubles rankings before ending the year at No. 12 in the final ITA national rankings. The 2014 ITA Atlantic Region Rookie of the Year, Pierson was tabbed No. 76 in the final ITA singles rankings and claimed All-ACC third-team and All-ACC Academic Team honors.
A native of Princeton, N.J., Pierson reached a No. 5 national ranking for 18-and-under junior players by the USTA and was the nation’s fourth-ranked recruit in the class of 2013 by TennisRecruiting.net. Following her graduation from Texas A&M, she competed on the ITF (International Tennis Federation) pro circuit for one year (2017-18) and worked at tennis clubs in San Diego, Calif. and Washington Crossing, Pa.
Pierson was one of six recent college graduates who completed the prestigious USTA Player Development Fellowship program in the summer of 2019. The program is structured to provide significant experiential training and opportunity for independent research in the field of professional tennis coaching. Pierson worked with top U.S. juniors and transitional professionals at major WTA tournaments like the Citi Open in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Open in New York City.
