TEMPE – Sun Devil Women’s Tennis Head Coach Jamea Jackson was named ITA/Dunlop Southwest Regional Coach of the Year for the 2025-26 season, the organization announced Tuesday.
Jackson earns her second career ITA Regional Coach of the Year honor after being named ITA Northeast Regional Coach of the Year in 2024 with Princeton. The former professional is the first Sun Devil head coach to win the honor since Sheila McInerney in 2022.
Taking the Sun Devils to their first 20-win season since 2001, Jackson led the team to a share of the Big 12 regular season title, marking the first conference championship of any kind in program history. The team’s five-win improvement was the most for the Sun Devils since 2012 and guided the team to hosting its first regional in 23 years.
Maneuvering through conference play, Jackson led the team to a nine-match winning streak, which was the longest by an ASU team since 2016. The 11 conference wins were the most in program history and led the team to its 38th consecutive - 40th overall - NCAA Tournament.
Jackson guided graduate Vivian Ovrootsky and juniors Sara Svetac and Emilija Tverijonaite to All-Big 12 First Team honors in singles, and Tverijonaite was named Big 12 Player of the Year after going 15-3 in the regular season and 8-2 in conference play. Tverijonate would win 32 singles matches for the season, which is tied for the second most in program history.
Jackson is now up for the ITA National Coach of the Year award after winning it at the regional level. The ITA will announce national award winners on Tuesday, June 16.
All-time ASU ITA Southwest Regional Coach of the Year
2026 - Jamea Jackson
2022 - Sheila McInerney
2016 - Sheila McInerney
ITA West Region Coach of the Year
2001 - Sheila McInerney
1990 - Sheila McInerney
1988 - Sheila McInerney