| Roland Thornqvist |
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 | Position:
Head Coach
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| Experience:
3rd Year
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One of the most distinguished tennis players in Atlantic Coast Conference history, Roland Thornqvist enters his third season as head coach of the North Carolina women’s tennis team. Last season, Thornqvist’s team went 9-4 at home despite having an injury filled season.
In addition, several UNC players were ranked in singles and doubles competition by the ITA. Marlene Mejia had a final ITA singles ranking of No. 87 and the doubles team of Mejia and Erin Niebling were tied for No. 50.
Thornqvist 2-year record at UNC is 26-23. His career record is 58-41 in four seasons, including his two at the University of Kansas.
In his first year, Thornqvist took the program from a 5-17 record in 1997-98 to its first-ever NCAA Tournament berth last season. En route to NCAA's, the Heels went 16-9, finishing fourth in the ACC. The squad also earned the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory, a 5-4 win over Washington in Oxford, Miss.
Thornqvist, a 1993 Carolina grad, was hired on June 5, 1998, as the new women’s tennis coach at his alma mater by UNC Athletic Director Dick Baddour. He replaced veteran coach Kitty Harrison, who retired in May 1998 after 22 years as the Tar Heels’ head coach. Thornqvist is only the third women’s tennis coach in UNC history. Frances Hogan served as tennis coach from 1974-76.
Thornqvist returned to Chapel Hill after two years as head women’s tennis coach at the University of Kansas. In those two years, he led the Jayhawks to a cumulative 32-18 dual-match record and two appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Under Thornqvist’s guidance in 1998, the Jayhawks won the Central Regional Championship at BYU and advanced to the national tournament round of 16 before losing to Georgia.
In his first year, he led the Jayhawks to a second-place finish in the Big 12 Conference and a No. 1 regional ranking. In 1997-98, Kansas’ national ranking improved from No. 32 the year before to No. 13. In addition, the team’s cumulative grade point average improved from 2.50 the year before Thornqvist’s arrival in Lawrence to 3.26 the next season.
Prior to his tenure at KU, Thornqvist spent 1994-96 as the assistant men’s tennis coach at UNC. Thornqvist also played professional tennis for one year after his graduation, attaining a world ranking of No. 290 in singles.
A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Thornqvist received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Carolina in 1993. He played for UNC from 1990-93, transferring from Elon College where he played one year and won the NAIA singles and doubles championships as a freshman in 1990. He also led Elon to the NAIA team championship that year.
At Carolina, he blossomed under the guidance of Carolina Head Coach Allen Morris and assistant Sam Paul, who is currently the head men’s tennis coach. Thornqvist went on to be Paul’s assistant with the men’s team from 1994-96.
At Carolina, Thornqvist was a three-time first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection, the 1993 ACC Player of the Year, a 1992 and 1993 first-team All-America and a 1992 and 1993 NCAA Tournament quarterfinalist in singles. In 1992, he led the Tar Heels to the ACC Championship and to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, in what was UNC’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in 14 years. The Tar Heels also made the NCAA Tournament during his senior season, advancing to the round of 16.
Thornqvist won the 1993 Rolex National Indoor Singles Championship as a senior at Carolina. In both 1992 and 1993, he won the Rafael Osuna National Sportsmanship Award from the Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Association. He is the only college player in history to win that award twice. Thornqvist was the No. 4 ranked collegiate singles player in the country his senior year.
Thornqvist is married to Nan Thornqvist, UNC Class of 1992. She is a native of Pine Knoll Shores, N.C., and is the assistant principal at Jordan Matthews High School in Siler City, N.C. They are the proud parents of a daughter, Arden MacLaine, born Nov. 4, 1999.
