Texas Tech University Athletics
Women's Tennis
- Title:
- Volunteer Assistant Coach
Former Furman women's tennis standout, Katarina Kozarov, also known as KK, has joined the Texas Tech women's tennis staff as the volunteer assistant coach announced by head coach Adam Herendeen on August 22, 2022.
In her first season as volunteer assistant coach of the Lady Raiders, Kozarov aided the team to 14 wins with five of those coming against ranked opponents. Picking up four conference victories, the Lady Raiders were able to earn a No. 5 seed into the Big 12 Tournament. Kozarov coached three All-Conference members as both Olivia Peet and Avelina Sayfetdinova picked up All-Big 12 Second Team Singles honors, while the duo of Sayfetdinova and Metka Komac were not only All-Big 12 Second Team Doubles selections but were also named the Big 12 Position Champions at the No. 1 doubles spot with a 6-1 record in league play. Sayfetdinova and Komac were also named as alternates for the NCAA Doubles Championships and finished the season ranked 30th in the nation.
During the fall, Kozarov helped coach the doubles pairing of Komac and Cristina Tiglea to a runner-up finish at the ITA Texas Regionals and a doubles spot at the ITA National Fall Championships, the first appearance for a Lady Raider pair since 2017. Kozarov helped lead the Lady Raiders to their 11th consecutive NCAA Tournament and also coached five ITA Scholar-Athletes in her first season.
At Furman, Kozarov lit up the record book as she compiled 91 singles wins and 77 doubles victories. Only dropping 17 total singles matches in her career and going 23-1 in her final season, Kozarov earned three consecutive Southern Conference Player of the Year awards (2018-21), becoming the fourth Paladin to do so in program history.
A two-time All-American, Kozarov was ranked as high as seventh nationally in singles and 16th in doubles and made the All-SoCon team every year of her career. Earning the ITA Most Improved Senior honor in 2020, Kozarov helped the Paladings to four NCAA Tournaments (2017-19; 2021) and earned a spot in the 2019 and 2021 NCAA Singles Championships as well as the 2021 NCAA Doubles Championships. Paired with teammate Julia Adams in doubles, the duo became the program's first pairing to win an NCAA doubles match.
A three-time ITA All-Academic Team member (2018, 2020-21) and two-time SoCon Tournament MVP (2019, 2021), Kozarov ranks atop the Furman record book with 77 career doubles wins, 91 career singles victories and 168 total career wins.
Kozarov has continued her dominant tennis into the professional world as she currently ranks 677th in the world and was as high as 661 in the WTA rankings. She most recently earned a singles title at the Colorado Springs 15K back in June.
A native of Novi Sad, Serbia, Kozarov graduated from the Furman University in 2020 with degrees in both Business Administration and Spanish.
