MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee Director of Athletics Chris Massaro announced Wednesday that Blue Raider assistant women's tennis coach Melissa Schaub has been promoted to the head coaching position.

"Melissa was a great assistant coach for Alison (Ojeda)," Massaro said. "I am confident she will be able to build upon the progress that was built. Melissa has a great rapport with her players who cares about their well-being and is a tremendous teacher. The feeling is mutual as the players let me know that they wanted Melissa to be their coach.

"She knows the strengths and weaknesses of our team and has a great plan to elevate our program."

Schaub, a Lexington, Ohio, product, recently completed her fourth season with the Blue Raiders as the team's assistant coach. She helped MT earn its best record when it finished 11-10, collecting double-digit wins for the first time, since 2004.

"I am so honored to have been given this opportunity," Schaub said. "Middle Tennessee is such an exciting place right now and I could not be happier to be part of this university."

While in Murfreesboro, Schaub has assisted the Blue Raiders in their steady climb up the Sun Belt standings each season. She also helped organize community activities, including the clinic the team conducted to raise money for Haiti earthquake victims this past season.

She is a former All-American doubles player at Tennessee, competing for former Middle Tennessee men's standout Mike Patrick. She garnered All-America doubles accolades as a freshman, compiling a 20-8 dual match record and 31-13 overall ledger in 2002-03. Schaub combined with partner Vilmarie Castellvi to defeat 10 ranked opponents on their way to All-SEC Second Team honors and a No. 4 national seed in the NCAA Tournament. The pairing finished the campaign ranked No. 6 nationally.

Her best singles mark also came during her inaugural collegiate campaign, when she tallied a 22-18 mark, including a 16-11 effort in dual matches.

Despite battling injuries much of her next two years in Knoxville, Schaub registered a 25-21 dual match record in doubles action. As a senior, she played at the No. 2 and 3 singles positions before moving to the top spot in early April. She was 3-0 at the SEC Tournament and was recognized as a SEC Player of the Week.

She became just the 10th Lady Vol in school history to earn 70 doubles victories, while finished her senior season ranked No. 44 in doubles with partner Ghizela Schutte.

Schaub was a member of the SEC Good Works Team and SEC Academic Honor Roll as a senior.

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