Emory University Women's Tennis Head Coach Amy Bryant has announced that former Eagle Bridget Harding has been appointed as assistant coach, effective June 2021. Harding previously served as a volunteer coach since the 2018-19 season.
Harding enjoyed a stellar playing career from 2014-18 where she led the Eagles to a dual record of 87-21, four national championship appearances, including the program's seventh national title in 2016, and four University Athletic Association championships. Over her four-year span, she was a three-time All-American in both singles and doubles, finishing her career as the school's all-time leader with 113 doubles victories while ranking third with 106 singles wins, just one of three players in program history to record 100 or more victories in both categories.
"We are so fortunate to have Bridget working with us full-time," Bryant said. "She really understands and embraces the team culture of our program as a former standout student-athlete and volunteer assistant. She will be a phenomenal mentor and role model to the women on the team while offering tremendous insights about competing at the highest levels of Division III. "
Harding recorded 24 or more singles victories in each of her four campaigns (playing in the #1 spot her final three seasons) including her senior season mark of 25-10. Named by the University Athletic Association as Player of the Year her final two campaigns, Harding was also tabbed as the ITA 2017-18 Atlantic South Region Senior Player of the Year.
In 2017-18, she, along with Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico, established a school seasonal mark with 34 doubles wins en route to advancing to the semifinal round at the NCAA D-III Championships. As a junior, Harding became just the third player in Emory women's tennis history to record 30 or more wins in both singles and doubles competition in a single season, posting a career-high 30 singles victories (30-11) while racking up 31 doubles wins (31-10). She was a NCAA D-III Championships participant in both singles and doubles her final three years, reaching the NCAA semifinals in doubles as a junior and senior and the NCAA Semifinals in singles once as a junior.
A native of Northport, N.Y., Bridget added a NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship to her resume in July of 2018 and was a three-time UAA All-Academic Team selection, three-time UAA President's Council Scholar Athlete and named to the Emory Class of 2018 100 Senior Honorary. Upon graduation in 2018 with an undergraduate degree in Human Health, she went on to obtain her Master's degree from the Rollins School of Public Health and has stayed with the team in a volunteer capacity, seeing the Eagles ultimately capture the team's eighth NCAA Division III National Championship this past spring.