amanda stone

Head Coach

Amanda Stone is entering her seventh season as head coach of the Louisiana Tech tennis program after coming to Ruston in September of 2016.

One of the top up and coming young coaches in the country has brought stability to the program, which has resulted in her being the alltime winningest head coach in program history.

The 2022 season was the best one yet for Stone and the Lady Techsters, registering the second most victories in school history with an 18-6 overall record (behind only the 21 wins set 40 years ago in 1982). Included in the season was a program-setting 14-match winning streak as well as a 12-match home winning streak, which was also a new record.

LA Tech ended up totaling 81 dual singles wins and 39 dual doubles wins, both ranking second in program history behind only the 1982 squad. Five different players reached double-digit singles victories, led by seniors Ilana Tetruashvili (17 wins) and Najah Dawson (14 wins) who were both named Second Team All-Louisiana. Dawson was also voted Louisiana Newcomer of the Year, becoming the first player in program history to receive this award.

In the final 2022 ITA Collegiate Tennis Division I Women’s Regional rankings, LA Tech came in at No. 9 in the southern region. This marked the first time since 2016 that the program finished the season ranked in the top 10 of their region.

Stone reached a milestone of 150 career victories during the season as well, this after surpassing 50 total wins as LA Tech head coach in 2021 after the program produced a nine-win campaign that was anchored by All-Louisiana honorees Tetruashvili and Alexia Romero.

Despite the shortened spring season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 public health threat, the LA Tech reached 10 wins which marked the third time in four seasons for a Stone-led squad to tally double-digit victories.

She coached All-Louisiana honoree Ana Jover who went 14-5 in dual singles and combined with Claudia Oravcova to go 13-5 in dual doubles, including a nine-match winning streak which was the longest in the program since 2013. There was also Romero who was named to the C-USA AllFreshman Team after registering a 10-2 dual singles record.

The 2019 spring season was a difficult one for Stone as the squad was dealt numerous injuries throughout the season, including two season-ending injuries to top players. Despite the adversity, LA Tech put together another double-digit win season with an 11-12 mark which included a seven-match winning streak to end the regular season.

Lone senior Sonia Chen was named First Team All-Louisiana after registering a team-best 14-6 dual singles record, ending the season on a ninematch winning streak at the top of the lineup.

The spring season of 2018 was very similar as the squad suffered numerous injuries in the lineup, ultimately recording a 9-12 overall record. Chen was again the highlight of the season as the junior posted a team-best 13-4 dual singles record, including a program-tying 12 straight wins. Chen also went 11-1 in singles in the fall while capturing the ITA Southern Regionals B Draw championship.

In year one, Stone guided the Lady Techsters to a 12-win spring season which included an undefeated mark at home (first since 2013). She coached two Lady Techsters -- Jazmin Britos and Nadja Manjon -- who were named All-Conference USA. The freshman Manjon registered 27 dual wins (singles and doubles) which was the third most by a LA Tech freshman in program history.

Prior to coming to Ruston, Stone recorded an 86-20 record and four straight Sweet 16 appearances in the NCAA Tournament during her four seasons as the head coach at Northeastern State (Okla.), a Division II program located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

The two-time MIAA Coach of the Year returned the RiverHawks back to national prominence, as the team shot up the rankings all four seasons Stone served as head coach. She posted at least 20 wins in each of her four years, which included four straight trips to the NCAA Championship Round of 16. She also led NSU to three-consecutive MIAA Regular Season Championships (2014-16).

Stone boasted two ITA All-Americans, one ITA Central Region Senior Player of the Year, one ITA Central Region Player to Watch, one MIAA Player of the Year, and two MIAA Freshmen of the Year during her time at Northeastern State. Of the 15 players who competed in the program since Stone took over in 2013, 14 earned All-MIAA honors at least once. Those 14 student-athletes amassed 38 all-conference accolades.

She took over the reins of a program that was unranked at the time and led it to the school’s first ever Top 10 ranking which came at the end of the 2016 campaign.

Off the court, the RiverHawks were one of the nation’s top academic programs. Over the last four years, NSU touted one CoSIDA Academic AllAmerican, four CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees, eight ITA Scholar-Athletes, one MIAA Academic Excellence award winner, 10 MIAA ScholarAthletes and 13 members of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll.

The 2016 contingent went 20-4 overall with an undefeated (10-0) mark against MIAA opponents for the second-straight year. Northeastern State won the MIAA Regular Season Championship for the third year in a row and hosted the 2016 NCAA Central Region 1 Championship. The RiverHawks won the regional and advanced to the NCAA Championship Round of 16 for the fourth-straight year.

All six members of the team earned All-MIAA honors, and Patricia Husakova was selected as the MIAA Player of the Year. She was also named an ITA All-American and was chosen as the ITA Central Region Senior Player of the Year. Husakova and doubles partner Molly Worden ended the season No. 15 in the nation.

The 2015 team posted a 20-6 mark, which included a perfect 10-0 record in the MIAA. NSU claimed its second-straight MIAA title and served as hosts for the 2015 NCAA Central Region 2 Championship. The RiverHawks went on to win the regional and advance to the NCAA Championship Round of 16. Northeastern State ended the season ranked No. 18 in the nation and all eight members of the team earned All-MIAA honors. Both Kristina Savchenkov (No. 14) and Patricia Husakova (No. 39) earned national ITA singles rankings during the season, and they also teamed up to comprise the nation’s No. 10-ranked doubles tandem.

The 2014 squad went 23-6 and captured the first conference championship for any NSU sport since the university joined the MIAA. Northeastern State ended Southwest Baptist’s stranglehold on the MIAA by snapping the Bearcats’ 32-match win streak against league opponents. The RiverHawks also won a pair of matches in the NCAA tournament to advance to the Round of 16.

The team finished the year ranked No. 20 in the nation after toppling six ranked opponents. Kristina Savchenkov ascended to No. 17 in the nation in singles and was honored as an ITA All-American. NSU boasted seven individuals who picked up All-MIAA honors, which included three first teamers. Valeriia Efimenko also garnered MIAA Freshman of the Year accolades.

In her first campaign, she turned what was a 10-9 program the year before back into one of the premier programs in the nation. The 2013 season saw NSU finish at 23-4 overall and advance to the NCAA Round of 16 for the first time since 2007. The 23 wins were the most since 2006, and the RiverHawks also finished runner-up in their first year in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association with a 9-1 record. Northeastern State defeated four ranked teams in 2013 and went from unranked at the beginning of the campaign to No. 27 in the nation by years’ end.

Stone led the doubles team of Ivana Belejova and Savchenkov to a national ITA rank of No. 19, and Savchenkov earned a national singles ranking of No. 49. She was honored as the 2013 MIAA Freshman of the Year. The team had seven All-MIAA performers, including four members of the first team.

Stone returned to Tahlequah after spending two years at the University of Rochester (N.Y.), where she served as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s tennis programs. Her responsibilities with the YellowJackets included organizing, scheduling and planning daily practices, budget management, recruiting, marketing, and player development.

She graduated cum laude from NSU in 2007 with a Bachelor of Art degree in mass communications and a minor in studio art. She is currently working towards a Master of Science degree in marketing at Rochester.

Stone attended Northeastern State from 2004-07, where she served as one half of the top doubles tandem and played anywhere from No. 3 to No. 5 singles. She made two national tournament appearances, attained a No. 11 national doubles ranking in 2007 and posted an undefeated singles mark her senior year.

Her first collegiate stop was at Oral Roberts, where she played basketball during her freshman campaign. She played in 22 games and made six starts in her lone season as a member of the Golden Eagles, helping lead the squad to an 18-10 record.

Stone worked at Garmin International as a consumer technical writer prior to attending graduate school (2008-11). She has also served as an assistant tennis pro at Indian Springs Country Club in Tulsa (2007) and as an assistant coach for Girls on the Run (2010-11).

She is married to Ross Wiersma and has one child, Thea.