ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. --- Joe Vann, coming off a very successful tenure at Central Oklahoma where he has led the Bronchos to a 73-34 record and a national Division II runner-up finish, has been named the eighth head women’s tennis coach in program history by Ryan Berryman, Vice President/Director of Athletics.
He takes over for Vicky Maes, who moved over to become the Director of the Lobo Tennis Club.
"The future of Lobo Women's Tennis is bright as we welcome Coach Joe Vann, his wife Jennifer, and their daughters, Lilly and Julia, to the Lobo Family,” said Berryman. Coach Vann has demonstrated the ability to recruit elite student-athletes and compete for championships and NCAA berths during his head-coaching tenure, advancing to the national championship match in the 2021-22 season.
"Chris Hudson, Senior Associate Athletic Director and Sport Administrator for our tennis programs, led a thorough search that included outstanding candidates. The University of New Mexico has an incredibly strong history in tennis, and I look forward to the next chapter in that history under Coach Vann's leadership."
Last season with the Bronchos, UCO went 18-4 overall, tied for the regular-season title in the MIAA, went 8-1 in league play, and then won the MIAA Tournament title. The team advanced to the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, and the Bronchos finished the season ranked No. 27 in the final ITA Rankings. Two players, Mei Hasegawa (19) and Pete Komada (67), were ranked in singles in the final ITA Singles Rankings, and that duo was ranked No. 6 in doubles.
Vann’s first season at Central Oklahoma saw the Bronchos go 24-2, winning both the MIAA regular season and tournament titles, and advancing to the Division II championship match, where the team lost to national power Barry University. That team finished No. 3 in the ITA rankings and had a pair of top-10-ranked singles players in Mae Canete (3) and Christine Canete (8), while Nikki Boyar and Blythe Buntrock (35) were ranked in doubles.
Overall, in his time at Central Oklahoma, Vann led his team to four NCAA National Tournaments in his five seasons as the program also advanced to the tournament in 2023 and 2025. His team won two regular season MIAA titles and three tournament titles.
“I am very honored to be joining the Lobos Athletic Family. I want to thank Athletic Director Ryan Berryman and Senior Associate A.D. Chris Hudson for their belief and trust in me to lead the program,” said Vann. “It is an honor to help carry Lobo Women's tennis forward and build upon their previous success in this new chapter, and I can't wait to get to work.”
Before going to UCO, Vann spent four years as the assistant coach for both men’s and women’s programs at his alma mater, UT-Tyler. He helped lead the Patriots to American Southwest Conference titles in NCAA Division III. He also guided the team through a transition to Division II, where the women’s program finished fourth in the Lone Star Conference in 2021. It was Vann's second tenure with the Patriots, with whom he also coached from 2007 to 2010.
During his tenure at Tyler, he helped capture five American Southwest Conference championships – three for the men's program and two more for the women. Tyler made three trips to the NCAA regional semifinals, a trip for the men's team to the NCAA Sweet 16, and three trips for the women's program to regional semifinals.
Between his stints at Tyler, Vann helped start the East Texas Baptist tennis programs in 2012 before returning to UT Tyler in 2017. Before his role at ETBU, Vann was the assistant tennis coach and director of the tennis academy at Austin Peay State University.
Vann has a long list of award winners from his various coaching stops. He's coached 13 NCAA All-Americans; two NCAA Division I All-American individual tournament qualifiers; nine NCAA Division III national individual tournament qualifiers; six ITA Small College national championship qualifiers (Men); and four ITA Small College national championship qualifiers (Women). He also coached an ITA National Freshman of the Year and Player of the Year (2022), two ITA Central Region Rookies of the Year, two MIAA Players of the Year, and an ITA Arthur Ashe National Award winner. He won two MIAA Coach of the Year awards.
Vann graduated from the University of Texas-Tyler with a bachelor’s in early childhood education and teaching in 2009, and a master’s in human resources development from Tyler in 2016. He played tennis, earning All-Southwest Conference honors. He and his wife Jennifer have two daughters, Lillian and Jules.