New head women's tennis coach Jay Pacelli was born on June 23, 1964, and raised in Atlantic Highlands, N.J. Tennis became a very important part of coach Pacelli's life in the 1970's when the tennis industry was booming with stars such as John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. Pacelli's parents, accomplished players themselves, were major inspirations both on and off the court as Pacelli honed his game-playing skills.
Pacelli was a regionally ranked junior player in the '70's. He graduated from Moravian College in 1986, where he lettered for four seasons as a tennis player and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in the social sciences.
Pacelli's first coaching experience came as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Northern Iowa, where he assumed that role from 1996-1997. In 1997, he obtained a masters degree in sport psychology from Northern Iowa. Pacelli kept busy from 1998-1999 working on a PhD in sport psychology and writing articles on refocusing skills and mood states in sports. In 2000, Pacelli decided after a three-year hiatus to get back into coaching, taking the women's head coaching position at Olivet College, an NCAA-Division III program, in Olivet, Mich.
After a brief stint with Olivet, Pacelli moved on to become the head men's and women's tennis coach at Pratt Community College in Pratt, Kan. During the 2000-2001 campaign at Pratt, Pacelli guided a men's program to a national ranking of 26th among community colleges and coached two players to Top 20 national rankings. In the fall of 2001, Pacelli found a new challenge, and home, as head coach at the Mississippi University College for Women in the competitive Gulf South Conference. At MUW, Pacelli's recruiting efforts produced a six-victory improvement from year one as coach to year two.
Unfortunately, the athletic programs at MUW were cut in the spring of 2003. As a result, Pacelli didn't have the opportunity to complete the MUW turnaround that was in progress at the time of the cuts. Pacelli plans to pick up where he left off at Southeast and develop one of the top women's college tennis programs in the OVC, and nationally.
Pacelli has also worked as a private tennis instructor and has been a member of the United States Professional Registry. Outside of tennis, coach Pacelli enjoys other sports and hobbies such as baseball, biking and bowling. He also enjoys running and has even competed in mini-marathons.
Coach Pacelli is very confident in his tennis coaching philosophy. He has put together a program that is the total package. Pacelli believes in challenging his players both physically and mentally with drills on the court and in the classroom. Pacelli has developed a reputation for being a good teacher and motivator, as well as someone who can steer a struggling program in the right direction. That's exactly what coach Pacelli intends to accomplish here at Southeast.
