The "Sarge Effect" rolls on in Ruston.
In just her second season at the helm at Louisiana Tech, Amy Sargeant was named 2025 Conference USA Women's Tennis Coach of the Year after leading the Bulldogs to a 19-win season, the third most in program history, as well as the program's first ever appearance in the CUSA Championship match.
As a result, the head coach was rewarded with a contract extension through the 2028 season.
It was a banner year for the 'Dogs on the courts in 2025 as the team totaled six All-CUSA selections and 10 CUSA Player of the Week honorees, both of which were the most in a single season in program history.
One of those all-conference members was Zoie Epps who registered a 37-5 singles record (fall and spring combined), the most wins by any Division I women's tennis player. Of those 37 singles wins, 25 came during the spring dual season setting a new program record. She also teamed up with Ana Rodrigues to tally 20 dual doubles victories, a program record as well. Epps finished the season ranked 15th in the ITA Southern Region, tied for the highest of any non-Power 4 and tied for the highest in school history. Epps and Rodrigues earned a ranking of ninth in doubles, becoming the first pairing in program history to be regionally ranked.
LA Tech went 5-0 against league competition during the regular season followed by victories over WKU and Middle Tennessee to advance to the finals of the CUSA Tournament.
Sargeant guided the Bulldogs to a 15-win season in 2024, tied for the third most wins by a first-year head coach in program history. One of those was a 4-2 win at Houston, which marked the program's first ever victory over a Big 12 opponent. The team finished ranked No. 9 in the ITA Southern Regional rankings.
She coached four Bulldogs -- Olga Bienzobas, Tiffani Nash, Alexia Romero, and Zoie Epps -- that ended up earning All-Conference USA honors and had four Bulldogs also receive CUSA Athlete of the Week honors throughout the spring.
Bienzobas, Nash, and Romero each tallied 15+ dual singles wins, a first in the program's history since 1982. The trio ranked in the top five in CUSA in singles wins while Bienzobas registered a 19-3 record, the most by anyone in the league and tied for the third most in program history. She went on to become the first player in program history to be named the LSWA Louisiana Player of the Year.
Sargeant came to Ruston following a decade-long coaching career with stints at her alma mater Florida State as well as New Mexico, Oklahoma, and most recently Clemson where she also served as interim head coach in 2023, guiding the Tigers to one of their most successful seasons on the courts in recent years.
After spending two seasons at Clemson as an assistant coach, Sargeant was named interim head coach on Nov. 17, 2022, immediately established a winning culture that garnered results.
The Tigers ended up recording a 16-12 overall mark, the most wins since 2015. Included in that was an 11-1 start to the spring dual season, the best start since 1986, with one of those victories coming against rival South Carolina, the first such win in eight years. Clemson was consistently ranked in the top 45, peaking as high as No. 29 (highest since 2018).
The team experienced improvement in her first two seasons on staff, helping the Tigers to a 13-13 record in 2022 and sending the doubles pair of Samantha Buyckx and Ali DeSpain to the NCAA Doubles Championship Tournament. The pair earned their first ranked wins and first top-25 victory in 2022, as well as their first ACC Tournament match victory, a 4-3 thriller over Virginia Tech.
Prior to heading to the Palmetto State, Sargeant was an assistant coach at Oklahoma for four seasons (2016-20). The Sooners improved year after year with her on staff, peaking in 2019 when OU went 17-9 and earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015, making it to the Round of 32.
Sargeant was named ITA Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year after helping coach four All-Big 12 selections (most in program history at the time), including Big 12 Newcomer of the Year Oleksandra Korashvili.
She was selected as one of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Summer Collegiate Coaches for the 2019 season, working with the USTA's top collegiate players as they compete at 25k pro events)
She made the move to Norman, Oklahoma from Albuquerque, New Mexico where she was an assistant coach for the Lobos for one season (2015-16). In that one season, Sargeant helped UNM to a 15-7 record and a perfect 5-0 mark in the Mountain West Conference, earning the No. 2 seed in the MWC Championship where they advanced to the semifinals.
She coached three All-Mountain West Conference selections while helping Lobos reach as high as No. 48 in the country.
Sargeant’s collegiate coaching career got its start at Florida State where she spent two seasons (2013-15) as a volunteer assisting with practices and coordinating player strategies and individualized drills while pursuing her master’s degree.
This came following a four-year playing career (2009-13) with the Seminoles, helping FSU to four straight NCAA Tournaments as well as two runner-up finishes in the ACC Championship.
Sargeant earned Team MVP honors in 2011, 2012, and 2013 and served as a two-time co-captain. As a senior, she became just the fifth player in FSU history to record 30 singles wins in a single season. Her .811 winning percentage ranked as the second-best mark in FSU single-season history.
She also had a stint on the professional ITF circuit, winning the ITA Regional Playoff for the 2013 US Open and competing in the French National League for Club Moulin Les Metz.
Sargeant, a native of Walsall, England, earned both her bachelor’s (Sport Management, 2013) and master’s (Sport Management and Administration, 2015) from Florida State.
