GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- Tusculum University has named Noelia Acuna as graduate assistant coach for the men's and women's tennis programs, head coach Adam Jackson announced.
Acuna joins the Tusculum program after serving as lead intern for executive conferences with Marcus Evans Global Financial Market Intelligence, based in Miami, Florida. Prior to that, Acuna was an international tutor at her alma mater, the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
At USC Upstate, Acuna was a member of the women's tennis team during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, playing primarily at flights one and two in singles. Acuna collected a pair of singles wins in Big South Conference action as a senior, and earned 10 wins in doubles as a two-year regular in the Spartans' lineup.
"I am grateful for this opportunity to join the Pioneer family," said Acuna. "I am really excited to be part of the teams and looking forward to a great season."
The Salta, Argentina native was selected as the team's Most Valuable Player as a senior, and was an Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic honoree after having the top grade-point average on the USC Upstate squad. She represented USC Upstate at the Women Leaders in Collegiate Sports conference in 2018, and received Emerging Leader certification from BB&T.
"Noelia brings a wealth of experience playing high-level college tennis to our programs, and we are very fortunate to have her," said Jackson, who will begin his sixth season as Pioneer head coach. "She has great energy and our players are going to benefit from working with her each day."
Acuna received an associate of arts degree from Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida in 2017, where she was captain and team MVP as a freshman and sophomore. She earned a bachelor of science degree in business administration, with a concentration in economics and finance, from USC Upstate in 2019.
The Tusculum women's tennis team has been nationally ranked in six of the past seven seasons, making four NCAA Division II Tournament appearances in that span. The Pioneer men's tennis team has won three South Atlantic Conference championships since 2013 and finished the 2019 season ranked 29th in the nation by the ITA.