Southeastern head women’s tennis coach Jason Hayes enters his 20th season at the helm of the Lady Lion tennis program. During his tenure, he has developed the program to one of the elite in the Southland Conference.
In his 16 years with the Lady Lions, Hayes has earned eight Coach of the Year awards. He was named the Southland Conference Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year and Louisiana Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2006, he became the second person in league history to be named the SLC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year in the same season. In 2008, he became the first coach in league history to be named SLC Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year honors three straight times. In 2013, he tied a Southland Conference record with his fourth Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year nod.
Hayes has a 330-264 record in his 19 years with Southeastern. The men’s team, which Hayes coached from 2002-09, posted a 102-78 mark under the Paris, Kentucky native, while the Lady Lions have recorded a 228-186 mark. Under Hayes, the Lions and Lady Lions have combined for 62 All-Southland Conference and 41 All-Louisiana selections.
Hayes has lead his players to three Southland Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Year awards, two Louisiana Women’s Tennis Player of the Year awards, two Louisiana Women’s Tennis Freshman of the Year and Louisiana Newcomer of the Year awards, one Southland Conference Women’s Tennis Freshman of the Year award and one Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year award.
In 2007, Hayes guided two-time SLC Player of the Year and the school’s all-time career singles victory leader Emilija Arnaudovska to the NCAA Individual Championships, becoming the first player in school history to compete in that event.
His work with the women’s team has been impressive, as he developed the Lady Lions into the premier program in the Southland Conference. After the team finished 2-19 in his first season, Hayes guided the team to back-to-back double-digit win seasons. In 2003, the team improved to 12-8 and barely missed the postseason tournament. The Lady Lions would only have to wait one more season to head back to the postseason, as in 2004, the Lady Lions returned to the SLC Tournament for the first time since 2001.
Southeastern’s rapid ascent continued in 2005, as a team featuring six freshmen finished second in the regular-season standings and earned their first ever NCAA Tournament berth by winning the SLC Tournament. The 2005 freshman class would go on to post a 84-17 record in their four seasons with the Lady Lions, with five members ranking in the school’s career top 10 in terms of singles victories.
The Lady Lions made return trips to the NCAA Championships in 2006 and 2007, sweeping the SLC regular season and tournament titles. Southeastern won a third straight regular season title in 2008, running their win streak versus league opponents to 48 matches. After missing the tournament in 2009 due to playing the majority of the season with five players, the Lady Lions returned to the postseason in 2010.
The 2013 Lady Lions returned to prominence, winning the Southland Conference regular season title and tying a single-season school record for victories, compiling a 22-3 record during the spring.
In 2016, senior Renee Villarreal received nearly every individual honor afforded to her, as she was named Southland Conference and Louisiana Player of the Year, as well as Southland Conference Women's Student-Athlete of the Year and CoSIDA Academic All-American. Dany Raygadas earned All-American honors in 2018 under Hayes' tutelage.
After posting a 6-16 record in Hayes’ first season, the men’s team put together four straight top-three Southland Conference finishes and winning seasons from 2003-06. In 2003, the Lions finished second in the SLC, their highest finish in school history. In 2004, Hayes’ squad was 11-9 and went into the final match of the season with a shot at the SLC regular-season crown. In 2005, Southeastern finished with a 16-10 overall record and advanced to the SLC semifinals for the third straight season.
In 2006, the Lions earned a share of the SLC regular season title – the first in school history – finishing with a 16-4 overall record and again advancing to the SLC semifinals. After an injury-marred 2007 led to a 10-11 record, Hayes’ troops bounced back with an 18-9 finish in 2008 and returned to the SLC semifinals.
Both the men’s and women’s teams also have excelled in the classroom under Hayes. In 2008, seniors Vladimir Paunic and Nina Knavs became the 10th and 11th, respectively, Academic All-Americans in school history. Both Paunic and Knavs were selected the Southland Men’s and Women’s Tennis Student-Athletes of the Year.
In 2006, Ondrej Krivka and Knavs were named SLC Men’s and Women’s Tennis Student-Athletes of the Year. The Lions and Lady Lions have placed 25 players on the SLC All-Academic team and eight players on the Academic All-District team during Hayes’ tenure.
Prior to his stint at Southeastern, Hayes was a successful coach in the Division II collegiate ranks. Hayes served as the Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach for Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas the previous four seasons where he posted a 103-41 record and was twice named the Heart of Texas Conference Coach-of-the-Year. During his tenure at Wesleyan, the Rams earned national rankings and advanced to the NCAA Division II National Tennis Championships in 1998.
His teams also excelled in the classroom at Wesleyan with at least one of his two programs achieving the highest cumulative grade point average for all athletic teams at the University. During his tenure with the Rams, Hayes guided 11 Academic All-Americans.
Prior to that, he held the Assistant Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach position at his alma mater, Cumberland (Tenn.) University. Hayes was also a Traveling Coach for Tennis Europe during the summer of 1998. In the summer of 2001, he served as an instructor at the Manuel Diaz Tennis Camp and the Jeff Wallace Tennis Camp, both held at the University of Georgia.
Hayes graduated from Cumberland in 1996, where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Education. He was an all-conference player at Cumberland, reaching the conference finals and receiving the team MVP Award during his senior season.
Hayes is single and resides in Hammond.
