Head coach Jim Corn is entering his eighth season as the headcoach of the Gardner-Webb women's tennis program, having previouslybeen an assistant and associate head coach for both the men andwomen's tennis programs from 2002-2006.
During the 2012-13 season, Corn guided a resilient undermannedsquad to an 8-win campaign highlighted by Gardner-Webb's first-everBig South Conference Women's Tennis Player of the Yearaward-winner. Under Corn's watch, Erica White capped a brilliantfour-year career with an 18-3 mark at No. 1 singles, as well as a16-3 record at No. 1 doubles alongside junior Jenny Lunde, to earnthe Conference's top individual honor for women's tennis. Led byhis standout senior, Corn engineered unlikely upsets overnationally-ranked Appalachian State (5-2) and Charlotte (4-3) todefend the Runnin' Bulldogs' home court in his seventh season inBoiling Springs.
The Runnin' Bulldogs enjoyed a 13-win season under Corn's watchduring the 2011-12 campaign. Led by a pair of 15+ winners insingles play, Alice Hopkins and Erica White, Gardner-Webb earnedthe the Big South Conference Tournament's No. 5 seed for thesecond consecutive season. Although GWU fell to No. 4 seedRadford in the Tournament's 1st Round, Corn's squad earned arguablythe most successful season in his tenure in Boiling Springs. Whiteearned All-Conference Singles honors, Hopkins was named the BigSouth's Freshman of the Year, and senior Ioana Oprea landed on thethe League's All-Academic Team.
The 2010-11 season marked a drastic turnaround for Corn andGardner-Webb women's tennis in the Big South Conference, as theRunnin' Bulldgos' head coach earned Big South Co-Coach of the Yearhonors. Under Corn's direction, the Runnin' Bulldogs improved to an11-6 overall record, the best winning percentage (65%) since Cornfirst took over at GWU in 2006. Gardner-Webb also posted animproved 3-4 mark in Big South play, up from its 1-6 mark a yearearlier. Corn's postseason honor was not the only such highlightfor GWU in 2011, as student-athletes Rita Gouveia (Co-ScholarAthlete of the Year) and Erica White (All-Conference Singles) werehonored for outstanding seasons.
In his fourth season as head coach, Corn led the Runnin'Bulldogs to 12 victories, the most in one season for GWU women'stennis since becoming a Division I member in 2002. He alsoguided Erica White into becoming the Big South ConferenceCo-Freshman of the Year, a first for the program.
During his third season, which was the team's first as a memberof the Big South Conference, Corn led the Runnin' Bulldogs to 10victories. The squad entered the 2009 Big South ConferenceChampionship as a No. 7 seed.
During his second season, Corn led the Runnin' Bulldogs to sevenwins in the squad's last year in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Hecoached one of the youngest teams in Division I, with the majorityof his team being underclassmen. Corn's team earned the No. 6 seedat the conference tournament, tying its highest seeding in thepostseason tournament.
In his first season as the Gardner-Webb head coach, Corn guidedthe squad to eight wins.. Under Corn's direction, GWU reached the2007 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship tournament as the No. 6seed, the program's highest seeding ever in the post-seasonevent.
In 2006-07, Corn had two players receive honors as Laura Kriettwas named first-team All-Atlantic Sun and the Atlantic SunAll-Freshman team while Jenny Gomez was named as the Atlantic Sun'sPlayer of the Week for women's tennis in March. The honor was thefirst time in GWU's history that a female tennis player had earnedthe weekly honor.
Corn has a legendary background in the sport of tennis, havingearned All-ACC honors four times during his career at theUniversity of North Carolina (1969-1972). The 1968 Shelby Highgraduate was the first person to earn a tennis scholarship at UNCand also set the school's record for wins during his career. He isalso the only player in ACC history to win four individual singleschampionships in the league at their position.
Corn graduated from North Carolina in 1972 and was the recipientof the Educational Foundation's award for tennis. He captained theTar Heels in 1971 and was co-captain in 1972. During his last threeyears at UNC, the Tar Heels finished 20th, 10th and fifthnationally.
There is a court named for him at the Cone Tennis Center on theUNC Campus in Chapel Hill.
In 2009, Corn was honored by being inducted into the NorthCarolina Tennis Hall of Fame.
Corn has coached two future All-Americans and one ACC Rookie ofthe Year during their high school careers, as well as having guidedthe Raleigh Edge to the world championship finals in 1990. Theplayers he has worked with include Tim Wilkinson (pro) andAll-American's Bryan Jones (UNC) and Peter Ayers (Duke). Both Jonesand Ayers went on to earn spots on the ACC's 50th Anniversary Teamafter their careers ended.
The Shelby, N.C., native has previously served as the AssistantAthletic Director for Marketing & Promotions after serving asthe executive director of the Bulldog Club at Gardner-Webb. Cornand his wife, Penny, have two sons, Hunter and Will.
