Kelly Larkin - Women's Tennis Coach - Davidson College Athletics

Kelly Larkin

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
kelarkin@davidson.edu
Phone:
2437

Promoted to associate head coach in 2021, Kelly Larkin joined the Davidson College women’s tennis program in 2017.

During her eight years on staff, Larkin has helped the Wildcats to an 89-75 overall record and 23-22 conference mark highlighted by a run to the A-10 semifinals in 2019.

In addition, Davidson has had 11 all-conference selections, five all-academic performers, seven ITA All-Academic Team honors, 37 ITA All-Academic Scholars and the Rebecca A. Stimson Award winner (Alexandra Abele), given to Davidson’s top female senior scholar-athlete.

Prior to joining Depka’s staff, Larkin served as an assistant at the University of Illinois for two seasons.

Illinois wrapped up the 2017 campaign with a 14-13 record and a 7-4 mark in the Big Ten. Larkin coached five Illini who garnered Academic All-Big Ten honors this past season. In 2016, the women's tennis team went 15-9 in Larkin’s first season, the first 15-win season for the program since 2012.

The Fighting Illini finished fourth in the Big Ten Conference both seasons, while reaching the semifinals of the conference tournament for the first time since 2012. They were ranked as high as No. 45 nationally during Larkin’s tenure and Tennis Recruiting named Illinois the No. 8 and No. 15 ranked recruiting classes in the nation for 2017.

A 2014 graduate of the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), Larkin played under current Illini head coach Evan Clark during his two seasons at the helm of the Seahawks’ program.

Following her graduation from UNCW, Larkin served as a graduate assistant tennis coach with both the men’s and women’s programs at North Georgia. With the Nighthawks, Larkin assisted in the development of practice plans in addition to providing individualized coaching during matches. She also helped with the evaluation and recruitment process of prospective athletes.

Larkin’s career at UNCW saw her compile a 52-21 overall singles record. As a senior in 2014, she registered a 10-4 singles record in dual play in addition to an impressive 13-2 mark in doubles action. Larkin helped the Seahawks to the program’s first CAA conference tournament title as well as the first NCAA tournament berth. UNCW also claimed the regular season CAA title during the 2013-14 campaign.

The Hilton Head Island, S.C., native earned the 2014 Pat Howey Outstanding Student-Athlete Leadership Award for her exceptional efforts and dedication during the Seahawks’ pivotal season. During her junior year of action, Larkin was named to the Colonial Athletic Association Conference’s Second Team for her success in both singles and doubles competition.

Larkin was an ITA Academic All-American all four of her seasons playing with the Seahawks. As a student-athlete at UNCW, Larkin was a four-time Dean’s List honoree and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health and physical education. She went on to earn her master’s degree in physical education at North Georgia in 2016, carrying a 4.0 grade point average.