Jeff Trivette
Jeff Trivette
Title: Head Coach
Phone: 209-7429
Email: uncgtennis@uncg.edu

 

Jeff Trivette begins his 14th season as the women’s tennis coach at UNCG in 2012-13. Trivette was permanently named head tennis coach on July 1, 2000, after serving one year as interim head coach. He had been an assistant coach at UNCG for 10 years prior to that.

Trivette coached both the men’s and women’s programs at UNCG for five seasons before relinquishing the men’s title before the 2004-05 season to current coach Thomas Mozur.

In Trivette’s tenure, UNCG has reached the semifinals of the Southern Conference Championship five times. He has had five first-team All-SoCon singles selections, including two-time honoree and 2008 SoCon Player of the Year Alejandra Guerra, and eight first-team doubles teams picked. Eight have earned second-team all-league singles laurels under Trivette, while two doubles team has earned second-team honors. UNCG has had at least one first-team singles and doubles selection in five of the last six seasons.

Trivette has also put three student-athletes on the SoCon All-Freshman Team since its inception in 2009, the third-most in the league in that span.

Last season, Trivette earned his first coach of the year award on the women’s side after leading UNCG to its first regular season title since 1999 and first-ever outright SoCon title. The Spartans finished with a 18-6 mark, including a perfect 10-0 in SoCon play after falling just short against College of Charleston, 4-1, in the SoCon tournament final. Trivette coached junior Niltooli Wilkins to her first SoCon Player of the Year award after breaking the school record for most wins with a 30-6 record. UNCG also entered the ITA rankings at No. 74 late in the season. 

In 2011, Trivette guided the Spartans to 15-7 overall mark and a second-place Southern Conference finish at 9-1 in the league. Four players earned first-team All-SoCon honors, with Niltooli Wilkins taking the distinction in singles and Wilkins, Alex Whitehead, Lucy Dougherty and Stephanie Macfarlane doing so in doubles play. UNCG also made a brief appearance in the national rankings, topping out at No. 70. The Spartans reached the semifinals of the SoCon Championship for just the fifth time in school history.

Trivette had UNCG ranked 66th in 2009-10, but the Spartans had to deal with an injury at the top of the lineup and finished the season with a 10-11 ledger that included a 4-6 league mark. Despite the sub-.500 record, UNCG had three student-athletes earn All-SoCon honors, while Whitehead and Annette Rios were SoCon All-Freshman selections, as well.

Guerra went 18-2 in the 2008 spring season and compiled a 17-match winning streak en route to being named the league’s player of the year. Guerra was named all-conference in singles, while Guerra and Arielle VonStrolley combined to earn a doubles all-league slot, as well.

As the men’s coach for five seasons, he compiled a 55-57 mark overall. In his second season with the men’s team, Trivette was named the Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 2001-02. He guided his squad to a 9-1 mark in conference play (15-5 overall) and a tie with Furman for the league title. In addition, the women’s team finished third in the SoCon that same season with a 7-2 mark (10-9 overall). Both teams advanced to the conference tournament semifinals.

As interim head coach in 1999-2000, Trivette led the men’s team to a national ranking, a 16-7 overall mark and a third-place finish in the Southern Conference (8-2).

As assistant coach in 1998-99, Trivette helped guide the women’s team to the SoCon regular-season title and a national ranking. Also, the men’s team finished runner-up in the conference.

With Trivette on staff, the men’s team was the Big South Conference runner-up in 1992, 1993 and 1994 before winning its first conference championship in 1995. The women’s team was the Big South regular-season champion in 1996 and 1997 and Big South tournament champion in 1997 after a runner-up finish the year prior.

In addition to working with the Spartan teams for more than two decades, Trivette has assisted with the university’s summer tennis camp and has been tournament coordinator for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association/Rolex Summer Circuit event that is played annually at UNCG.

Trivette, an assistant men’s tennis coach at Greensboro College in 1989, is a 28-year veteran of coaching. Prior to entering coaching, Trivette played at Charlotte and also competed professionally.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sport science from UNCG in 1992 and a master’s degree in sport psychology from UNCG in 1994.