Women's Tennis
Susanne Depka
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- sudepka@davidson.edu
- Phone:
- 2725
Susanne Depka is in her ninth season as head coach of the Davidson women’s tennis team.
She has been with the program since 2014, initially as an assistant coach, and took over in June of 2017 for Sara Anundsen O'Leary, who became the head coach at the University of Virginia.
A former professional player on the WTA tour, Depka has helped the Wildcats excel during their run in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Closing in on 100 wins for her career, Davidson is 89-75 overall under Depka’s leadership, including a 23-22 conference mark.
In addition to helping the ‘Cats reach the conference finals in 2016, she led them to semifinals appearance in just her second season as head coach.
Program Success & Scholar-Athlete Honors
During Depka’s 11 years on staff, the Wildcats have seen significant individual and team success:
Highlights of her head-coaching tenure include coaching 11 all-conference singles performers, five conference all-academic selections, 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.
Professional & Prior Coaching Experience
Depka came to Davidson after a four-year stint as an assistant coach at North Carolina State from 2010-2014.
During her four-year stay at N.C. State, Depka helped the Wolfpack reach two NCAA appearances. In her first season, Depka helped the team achieve a No. 25 national ranking, the highest in school history. N.C. State advanced to the second round of the 2010 NCAA tournament and sent Sanaa Bhambri to the NCAA Singles Championship. Bhambri also qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championship with teammate Sandhya Nagaraj.
Prior to her time at N.C. State, Depka had spent seven years co-directing a high performance junior tennis program in North Carolina. During her time with the program, she helped develop over 15 nationally ranked players who went on to play Division I college tennis on scholarship.
Before arriving in the state of North Carolina, Depka was an assistant coach at Northwestern from 1998 through 2000. In her first year on staff, Northwestern captured the Big Ten regular season title, made the Big Ten tournament championship match, and reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. The following year, Northwestern repeated as regular season champions and received a top 20 national ranking.
Depka played professionally prior to her experience at Northwestern, achieving a top 500 world ranking in WTA singles and doubles. In addition to her touring career, Depka represented the United States in the 1995 Pan American games in Argentina, winning one silver and two bronze medals, and reached the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles at the 1997 World Maccabi games in Israel.
Depka attended the University of Illinois from 1993 to 1997, receiving the team's most improved player award as a freshman and most valuable player as a senior. Depka succeeded academically as well, earning the George Huff Award for achieving a 4.0 grade point average.
Coaching Records at Davidson
Overall Record: 89-75
Conference Record: 23-22
She has been with the program since 2014, initially as an assistant coach, and took over in June of 2017 for Sara Anundsen O'Leary, who became the head coach at the University of Virginia.
A former professional player on the WTA tour, Depka has helped the Wildcats excel during their run in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Closing in on 100 wins for her career, Davidson is 89-75 overall under Depka’s leadership, including a 23-22 conference mark.
In addition to helping the ‘Cats reach the conference finals in 2016, she led them to semifinals appearance in just her second season as head coach.
Program Success & Scholar-Athlete Honors
During Depka’s 11 years on staff, the Wildcats have seen significant individual and team success:
- All-Conference Performers: 20 (9 – First-Team)
- A-10 All-Academic Selections: 12
- A-10 Performers of the Week: 39
- ITA All-Academic Team Honors: 8
- ITA All-Academic Scholars: 40
- Rebecca A. Stimson Award: 1
Highlights of her head-coaching tenure include coaching 11 all-conference singles performers, five conference all-academic selections, 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.
Professional & Prior Coaching Experience
Depka came to Davidson after a four-year stint as an assistant coach at North Carolina State from 2010-2014.
During her four-year stay at N.C. State, Depka helped the Wolfpack reach two NCAA appearances. In her first season, Depka helped the team achieve a No. 25 national ranking, the highest in school history. N.C. State advanced to the second round of the 2010 NCAA tournament and sent Sanaa Bhambri to the NCAA Singles Championship. Bhambri also qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championship with teammate Sandhya Nagaraj.
Prior to her time at N.C. State, Depka had spent seven years co-directing a high performance junior tennis program in North Carolina. During her time with the program, she helped develop over 15 nationally ranked players who went on to play Division I college tennis on scholarship.
Before arriving in the state of North Carolina, Depka was an assistant coach at Northwestern from 1998 through 2000. In her first year on staff, Northwestern captured the Big Ten regular season title, made the Big Ten tournament championship match, and reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. The following year, Northwestern repeated as regular season champions and received a top 20 national ranking.
Depka played professionally prior to her experience at Northwestern, achieving a top 500 world ranking in WTA singles and doubles. In addition to her touring career, Depka represented the United States in the 1995 Pan American games in Argentina, winning one silver and two bronze medals, and reached the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles at the 1997 World Maccabi games in Israel.
Depka attended the University of Illinois from 1993 to 1997, receiving the team's most improved player award as a freshman and most valuable player as a senior. Depka succeeded academically as well, earning the George Huff Award for achieving a 4.0 grade point average.
Coaching Records at Davidson
Overall Record: 89-75
Conference Record: 23-22
| Year | Overall Record | Conference Record |
| 2017-18 | 16-5 | 5-1 |
| 2018-19 | 14-11 | 5-4 |
| 2019-20 | 6-5 | 2-1 |
| 2020-21 | 6-15 | 1-2 |
| 2021-22 | 13-8 | 4-2 |
| 2022-23 | 8-13 | 2-4 |
| 2023-24 | 13-10 | 3-3 |
| 2024-25 | 13-8 | 1-5 |
| Total | 89-75 | 23-22 |
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