Ron Albers

Coach Ron Albers' recruiting, teaching and consistent dedication to all the necessary aspects of a successful program were rewarded during the Spring 2011 season with VU's first NJCAA Div. I National Tennis Championship (21-1 record). The Trailblazers got past programs that had edged VU out for the national title in the past and Albers enjoyed an indescribable feeling as a coach.

Over the past three decades at VU, Albers has coached 54 players who have achieved 83 NJCAA All-American designations. Nineteen players have won or shared 17 national championships. The Trailblazer Tennis Program has made 28 consecutive trips to the NJCAA National Championship Tennis Tournament.

Albers (now in his 32nd year at VU) has also earned the three highest awards a junior college coach can receive. He has been the Wilson Sporting Goods Intercollegiate Tennis Association Coach of the Year Award three times (1999, 2008 and 2011). In 1998, he earned the Hershel Stephens Coaching Award for outstanding service and dedication to tennis and the NJCAA Tennis Coaches Association.

In 1997, Albers became the youngest coach to be enshrined in the NJCAA Tennis Hall of Fame. He was the 1992 U.S. Professional Tennis Association Midwest Coach of the year and has won the K-Swiss Professional of the Year Award twice.

In 1991, he coached the Blazers to a 26-1 regular season record. He is a believer that a strong program needs a challenging schedule - regularly including NCAA four-year division I and division II schools.

The 2008 team finished with an 27-4 regular season record and was fourth in the NJCAA Finals in Plano, Tex. It was the school's 25th consecutive appearance in the national tournament. The team included sophomore David Jackson of Indianapolis, Ind., who won the No. 3 singles title.

Albers is currently president of the NJCAA Tennis Coaches Association. He served as the national rankings chairman for 11 years through the 2004 season.

Albers restarted the VU program in the 1980-81 school year and has a 681-151 record for an 82 percent winning percentage. His record is 315-37 (89 percent) against junior college competition.

Albers has groomed players who have earned scholarships and competed at several major college including Berry College, Mount Berry, Ga.; University of Charleston, W. Va; Rhode Island-Kingston; University of Southern Indiana; Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis; Texas-San Antonio; Evansville; Cincinnati; Texas-Pan American; Ohio University; Northeastern Oklahoma State University; Indiana State; Missouri State; Nebraska; Eastern Kentucky; Texas-Tyler, Weber State, University of Southern California, University of S.Carolina-Spartanburg, Bellarmine College, Ohio State, Creighton, Old Dominion, Mercer, Murray State and San Diego State.

Wynn Criswell (1990-92) made the NCAA Division singles finals in 1993 and 1994 and Played on the men's A.T.P tour. He is the first Blazer to play in the NCAA's top tourney.

"The outstanding achievements my players have attained both on and off the tennis court are extremely gratifying. Their success, like most everything else worthwhile in life, has come from dedication and hard work," says Albers.

The Trailblazer Tennis program has a 90-percent graduation rate.

Albers leads his players by example, both on and off the court. He is certified active member of the USPTA, earning a Professional I rating, the highest possible certification test grade. Albers has won several singles and doubles championships in amateur tournaments around Vincennes and plays in U.S. Tennis Association events in the Midwest.

Albers earned a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1979 and a master's degree in sports administration in 1980 from Eastern Kentucky University at Richmond.

He is a veteran skydiver and made his 1,000th jump on October 21, 2006. He is also a marathon runner and avid golfer.

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tennis