Paula Jimenez joins the Hawaii Pacific University women’s tennis coaching staff as an assistant coach. Jimenez, a native from Barcelona Spain, and former standout player for the University of Nebraska at Kearney, was named the 2016 ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) Central Region Most Improved Women’s Senior after achieving a 19-6 record her final season in both singles and doubles, helping the Lopers go to 18-7 and reach the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season.
During her three-year Loper career, she was named All-MIAA three times in both singles and doubles. At number three singles, she was a second-team pick in 2015 and honorable mention as a sophomore and senior. Despite playing with three different partners, she was named all-league in doubles, earning first-team number three honors in 2014 and 2016. Jimenez’s overall record after playing three years for the Lopers was 67-19.
Twice named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, Jimenez spent her freshman season at Division I New Orleans where she was a member of the Privateers tennis team.
As an assistant coach, she helped both the men’s and women’s teams reach the NCAA Tournament on both seasons 2016-17 and 2017-18. UNK won a combined of 55 duals. During Jimenez’s second year of coaching, the men’s team earned their highest national ranking of 16 in the nation while the women were ranked 36.
Jimenez earned a B.S degree in Business Administration in 2016, and a B.A. in Advertising and Public Relations with a Sports Management minor in 2018, all from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
As an assistant coach, Jimenez was selected Performance Assistant Coach of the Year for the 2017-18 season by the Central Region.
