Brent Worthington was named head coach of the men’s tennis team on Aug. 28 after former men’s tennis head coach David Goodman announced his resignation in early July. Worthington has five years of experience with the tennis program at Biola with four years as a player and one year as an assistant coach to Goodman. This will mark his first year in a head coaching position.

“I got excited about [Worthington] because of Goodman,” Athletic Director David Holmquist said. “We enjoyed having him and whoever he recommended had a lot of credibility. He felt like this would be really good for the program.”

BUILDING THE PROGRAM

Worthington played for Biola from 2008-2012 where he excelled in his doubles matches. During his four years playing for Biola, Worthington won a total of 20 doubles matches and had an overall record of 6-13 overall in doubles his senior year.

“Playing four years here at Biola was one of my favorite parts of coming to Biola,” Worthington said. “It’s a smaller team and it allows the opportunity for there to be deeper friendships and it really feels like a family.”

Worthington hopes to use his knowledge and experience in doubles to push the team another step beyond the 2014 season.

“Tennis is a mental sport and things come up where you need discipline. That’s probably what I’m most excited for because I know the guys are going to be good and easy to work with and they are going to work hard we’re going to work hard.” Worthington said.

PROGRESSING EVEN FURTHER

Worthington contributed to the most successful season for the men’s team as an assistant coach to Goodman. The men’s team had an overall record of 9-16 and 4-6 in conference play. Biola went all the way to the Golden State Athletic Conference semi final match before falling 5-0 to Vanguard University.

“It was fun to be on the other side of things and be able to provide an opportunity for those players to hopefully get what I experienced as a player,” Worthington said. “Being able to teach others how to improve their game and to facilitate the environment and the chemistry of the team and seeing them compete was another unique experience that was incredible.”

Worthington hopes to add on to the progress that happened during the last season in the upcoming 2015 season. One aspect he will not have to worry about is the team’s chemistry.

“One thing from my experience at Biola that I know I don’t have to worry about is that we always have good guys we have guys that aren’t just here for tennis, they are here for Biola, those things matter to them,” Worthington said.