MOSCOW, Idaho – The University of Idaho Athletic Department and Athletic Director
Terry Gawlik has announced the hiring of Sanne Louwers (Saun-a Lau-ers) as the new head coach of the women's tennis program.
"I am very excited to start this new journey with this great program," Louwers said. "I would like to thank
Terry Gawlik,
Matt Martin, and the entire athletic department for this great opportunity. I look forward to building an awesome culture where we can keep each other accountable, work hard and have an exciting journey together."
Louwers, a native of Nuenen, Netherlands, has spent time coaching at the collegiate and club levels for six years. She was previously the head tennis professional at the St. Petersburg Country Club in Florida.
"We are ecstatic to welcome Sanne to the Vandal Family," Senior Associate Athletic Director of External Operations
Matt Martin said. "Throughout the search process, it was clear that she is deeply committed to student-athlete success and passionate about player development. She brings an impressive global recruiting portfolio and an understanding of what it takes to build a championship program. Sanne has a great opportunity to hit the ground running this spring with a competitive group of returners, and we look forward to watching them compete for Big Sky Championships in the near future."
Before her experience at the club level, Louwers spent three seasons as an assistant coach for the women's tennis team at Utah State University from 2017 to 2020. During her time at USU, she helped guide the Aggies to a program record fifth-consecutive postseason win in 2019 and also helped Utah State to a program record-tying 14 wins in 2018.
Prior to her stop at USU, Louwers spent one season as the assistant at Southern Utah University and one season as a volunteer assistant at her alma mater, LIU Brooklyn. She also served as the head tennis professional at DS Tennis and assistant manager at The Club of Riverdale in the Bronx in 2016.
Louwers competed collegiately for LIU Brooklyn where she was named the 2013-14 Northeast Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Year, earned All-NEC honors three years in a row, and was named NEC Rookie of the Year. After four seasons at LIU Brooklyn, she ended her college career with an overall record of 52-21 in singles play and 43-17 in doubles.
She graduated with a bachelor's degree in management and marketing at LIU Brooklyn in 2015 while also spending a year in the MBA program at Southern Utah.
Louwers will lead the Idaho women's tennis team in its first match of the spring season at Washington State on Jan. 29. The match against the Cougars is scheduled to get underway at 4 p.m.
