The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Staff Directory
- Title:
- Volunteer Coach, Women's Tennis
A former head coach at Arkansas, national assistant coach of the year at UCF, and WTA professional, Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar was named Assistant Women’s Tennis Coach at Texas in September 2023.
Sanchez-Quintanar also played under Texas head coach Howard Joffe for three seasons, including one at Maryland (2010-11) and two at Texas A&M (2011-13).
Sanchez-Quintanar (KEEN-ta-nahr) joins the Longhorns after spending two seasons at Arkansas where she led her teams to a 26-20 record, including 2022 when the Razorbacks went 16-10 overall and 8-5 in the Southeastern Conference. The eight SEC wins were the most for the program since 2009, and the team’s fifth-place conference finish was its highest since that same year. Arkansas finished No. 34 in the ITA Rankings after a first-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Sanchez-Quintanar went to Arkansas after five successful seasons at UCF as an assistant under head coach Bryan Koniecko, including being named the 2019 ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year. She helped guide the Knights to an impressive 20-5 record in 2021, leading to the program’s second-consecutive American Athletic Conference title and the program’s first-ever national seed in the NCAA Tournament. During her tenure at UCF, the program elevated from being ranked outside of the top 100 nationally, to becoming a top-10 team. The Knights defeated then-No. 4 FSU in Tallahassee for the first top-five win in program history, propelling it to a program-high No. 8 ranking in the ITA rankings. After earning the No. 9 seed for the NCAA tournament, the Knights advanced to the Sweet 16.
Sanchez-Quintanar played a key role in UCF’s recruiting process, with proven success recruiting internationally, and consistently building top-recruiting classes. She also helped manage the team budget, travel and equipment while building and maintaining relationships with faculty and staff on campus.
A native of Campo de Criptana, Spain, Sanchez-Quintanar played professionally on the WTA Tour from 2014-16, ranking as high as No. 365 in singles and No. 343 in doubles. She was a doubles champion at five Future Tournaments and played in the finals of seven singles events, winning in Madrid, Spain.
Prior to her professional career, Sanchez-Quintanar attended Texas A&M where she was a three-sport athlete, competing in tennis, basketball and soccer from 2011-14, playing for Joffe in tennis for two seasons.
On the tennis court, she was a two-time All-American, ranking as high as third in singles and No. 18 in doubles. Individually, she qualified for the NCAA Singles Championships three times with her top finish coming in 2012 when she reached the quarterfinals. In 2013, she won the SEC singles and doubles championships for the women’s tennis team and went on to lead the Aggies to a runner-up finish in the NCAA Team Championships.
Sanchez-Quintanar capped off a championship senior year in tennis with additional postseason appearances in basketball and soccer, winning the SEC Championship and reaching the Sweet Sixteen on the pitch in the fall of 2013, and then going to the Elite Eight under head coach Gary Blair on the hardwood in the winter of 2014. She is the only woman in Aggies history to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in three sports.
