July 19, 2011
Erik Burton has been named the head coach of the University of Nevada men’s tennis team, Wolf Pack Director of Athletics Cary Groth announced Tuesday.
"We are very excited to have Erik take the helm of our men’s tennis program,” Groth said. “He has experienced championship, postseason and academic success at Western New Mexico, and we are confident he will bring those achievements to Nevada and take the Wolf Pack men’s tennis program to the next level.”
Burton comes to Nevada from Western New Mexico University where he has coached the Mustangs’ men’s and women’s tennis teams since 2006. His men’s teams won the 2010 and 2011 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships and advanced to the NCAA championships in both years. In 2010-11, WNMU advanced to the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament and was ranked No. 28 in the country and No. 1 in the Central Region.
Burton was named the RMAC Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2011, while this season, his student-athletes also won the RMAC Player and Freshman of the Year awards. He saw four of his student-athletes earn first-team all-conference singles honors and two doubles teams earn first-team honors in 2010-11. His teams have also garnered ITA All-Academic and RMAC All-Academic honors, while Burton has served as chair of the ITA/Wilson Central Region national ranking committee since 2008.
Prior to WNMU, Erik served as a volunteer assistant coach for the women’s tennis team at the University of New Mexico and helped the Lobos to the 2004 Mountain West Conference championship. He also worked as a coach at the Tennis Club of Albuquerque, N.M., and the Gainey Ranch Estate Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. A 1997 graduate of Western New Mexico with a degree in sociology, Burton also played three years of collegiate tennis at WNMU.
“I am thrilled to be Nevada’s men's tennis coach and will hit the ground floor running to take Wolf Pack men’s tennis to the new heights and promote the excellent opportunities that the University of Nevada has to offer premier student-athletes,” Burton said. “I want to thank Cary Groth, Rhonda Lundin and the Wolf Pack athletics department for this great opportunity. I look forward to bringing academic success, family and team ideals and high levels of competitive achievement to the Wolf Pack men’s tennis program.”
