FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Women’s tennis head coach Tucker Clary has named former Princeton assistant coach Richard Sipala as his new assistant coach ahead of the 2024-25 season.
“We are excited about the addition of Richard to our staff as an assistant coach,” Clary said. “He comes in fresh off helping his last program win a conference championship, as well as a wealth of knowledge from previous stints in college tennis including being a former head coach. Throughout the process we were blown away about his views on player development and enthusiasm for college tennis. I can’t wait to continue building this program alongside Richard for the years to come.”
Sipala comes to Fayetteville after spending last season with the women’s tennis program at Princeton as an assistant coach, helping lead the Tigers to their 18th Ivy League title as the team advanced to the Round of 32 at the NCAA Tournament. Princeton achieved a season-high ITA team ranking of No. 30 and finished 16-7 overall. Under Sipala, Princeton had two athletes earn All-Ivy honors as Neha Velaga received First Team recognition while Maia Sung collected Second Team honors.
“It has always been a dream to coach in the SEC,” Sipala said. “It’s been awesome to see what Tucker has done with the program so far and hopefully we can take it to an even higher level now.”
Prior to Princeton, Sipala served as the head coach for the men’s and women’s tennis programs at Hofstra from 2021-2023. Sipala led the men’s program to seven wins during the 2022-23 season and reached the CAA Tournament quarterfinals after recording the program’s first postseason win since 2008. In his first season at Hofstra, Sipala coached the men’s team to five dual match victories while the women’s team notched four wins.
Sipala was an assistant coach for the St. John’s men’s tennis program from 2018-2020 and played an integral part for the Red Storm during the 2018-19 season. St. John’s earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2016 and the program’s first Big East Championship in Sipala’s first season. As a result, Sipala and the Red Storm staff were recognized as the Big East Coaching Staff of the Year.
Sipala was a member of the Florida Atlantic men’s tennis program as an assistant coach in 2017-18. In his lone season with the Owls, Sipala helped FAU to a 19-10 record and the team reached the Conference USA Tournament championship.
Sipala has also spent time as a coach for WTA professionals Jovana Jović and Conny Perrin. The Quogue, New York, native was a four-year member of the men’s tennis team at Bryant University. Sipala was an All-Northeast Conference First Team selection as a freshman after winning 18 matches and was named team captain as a senior.
After graduating from Bryant, Sipala moved to New Delhi, India, to serve as an assistant coach at the Vishaal Uppal Tennis Academy.
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