Schaub Joins Women's Tennis Staff

Schaub earned All-America honors in doubles as a freshman at Tennessee, compiling a 20-8 dual mark and a 31-13 doubles record during the 2002-03 campaign for former Blue Raider Mike Patrick. Schaub and partner Vilmarie Castellvi defeated 10 ranked foes during the season, earning Second Team All-SEC honors and a No. 4 national seed in the NCAA Championships. The duo finished the year ranked sixth in the country.

Schaub also enjoyed her best season in singles as a freshman, posting a 22-18 mark, including 16-11 in dual outings.

The Lexington, Ohio, native battled injuries during her sophomore and junior seasons, playing mostly doubles and amassing a 25-21 dual match record.

As a senior Schuab played the Nos. 2 and 3 singles positions for most of the year before moving to the top spot in early April. She was 3-0 at the SEC Tournament and garnered SEC Player of the Week honors on February 28.

Schaub became just the 10th Lady Vol in school history to earn 70 career doubles victories with a triumph against Ole Miss on April 7 and ended the season ranked 44th in the nation in doubles with partner Ghizela Schutte in 2006. She was also a member of the SEC Good Works Team and SEC Academic Honor Roll as a senior.

She says coaching has been at the forefront of her mind for many years after her father, Ron, served as her coach as a junior and in high school.

"I've always wanted to be a coach," Schaub said. "My dad is a coach and I've always been around the game from the time I can remember.

"I love tennis and want to stay involved in the game somehow. I think I decided in junior high that coaching was what I wanted to do. My dad has always been my biggest influence in the game of tennis and I want to continue what he has started in the coaching profession."

Ron Schaub is the club professional and high school coach in Lexington. Melissa's brother, Ty, currently plays tennis at The Ohio State University, while sister, Courtney, will be a junior in high school in Lexington. Her father played tennis collegiately at Ohio University.

"We are fortunate to have Melissa because she could have gone quite a few other places to start her coaching career," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "I think Mike Patrick kind of pushed her in our direction, which is lucky for us.

"Melissa has played at the highest levels of junior and collegiate tennis and knows the hard work and sweat it takes to get there. It is one thing to be a good player but it's another to be able to communicate the information to others. She knows what it takes to be the best and will be a big factor in our program," Ojeda added.

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