Women's tennis coach Jody Hyden announced his resignation last week during his third year as coach of the Blue Devils.
Hyden informed the team of his resignation before its match at Florida last Wednesday. He will be replaced by assistant coach Jamie Ashworth. Hyden's announcement was an unexpected move to members of the team.
"I'm surprised," senior Karen O'Sullivan said. "I wasn't aware of that change coming. I think that it was something that Jody felt like he needed to do, and you need to understand and respect that."
Hyden compiled a 59-12 record as head coach of the Blue Devils, currently ranked fifth in the nation (13-3, 4-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference). During both of his full seasons as coach, Duke was undefeated in the ACC, winning the conference regular season and tournament crowns both years. Hyden coached Duke to the NCAA Final Four and a No. 3 ranking last season, and has coached three All-Americans while serving as head coach. Hyden also served as an assistant coach for the women's tennis team from 1990-92, and assisted the men's team during the 1991-92 season.
Despite the shock of the midseason departure, the team harbored no resentment towards its former coach for leaving it in the middle of a campaign.
"He just felt that if he was going to go, he was going to go and do what's best for the team," Ashworth said. "I think putting it all behind them now gives them a chance to move on and not have to think about it at the ACC Tournament and at the NCAAs."
The coaching switch will cause a significant changing of roles for various members of the team. Ashworth will assume the head coaching position for the remainder of the season on an interim basis. Men's assistant coach Dave Hagymas will assist the team when possible. The team's veteran members also believe that they can rally together to help deal with the change and make certain that it does not prevent them from achieving their ultimate goal of winning the NCAA title.
"This whole experience has brought our team a lot closer," O'Sullivan said. "We have a goal to win the national title, and we're going to help each other with that goal. If that means coming out and hitting with someone or helping out in any way possible, our team is willing to do that, and help out Jamie in any way that we need."
Similarly, newer members of the team also hope to continue a business-as-usual atmosphere for the remainder of the season.
"If we have changes, they're going to be subtle, they're not going to be big," freshman Karin Miller said. "I think things will stay pretty much how they are."
Ashworth is in his third year with the Duke program. Before coming to Duke, he played for the University of Maryland and spent one season as an assistant coach for the Terrapins. Despite his relative inexperience, the Blue Devils have the utmost confidence in their new coach.
"Jamie's role is different-he's no longer the assistant," O'Sullivan said. "I think a lot of great qualities that Jamie has are going to come out now being the head coach, whereas before, as the assistant coach, he didn't have the same role. I think it's definitely a positive for the team for him to be here as a head coach."
Brandon Ehrhart contributed to this story.
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