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In what could be a sign of things to come in the revenue-sharing era of collegiate athletics, the University of Texas-El Paso announced last Friday that it was cutting the women’s tennis program.

UTEP cited the need to allocate resources to other sports programs on campus, “ensuring their long-term viability.” Women’s tennis, which began play in the 1983-84 season, was the first UTEP sports program cut since the university disbanded men’s tennis in 1999.

"We made this decision following a thoughtful analysis and with a heavy heart," Vice President and Director of Athletics Jim Senter said in a statement. "Our women's tennis student-athletes have represented the University in a first-class manner for over 40 years and have often set the standard for academic achievement among all our sports programs. We are so grateful to head coach Ivan Fernandez and associate head coach Joanna Furdyna for all the hard work that they have put in leading this program and mentoring our student-athletes."

Scholarship commitments will be honored for any women's tennis players who choose to stay at UTEP. The Miners had six international players and one American player on the roster. The UTEP coaches will remain employed throughout the remainder of their contracts.

UTEP does not have an on-campus tennis facility, and the administration said “building a viable tennis facility would be cost prohibitive, and a more extensive donor base would be required to raise sufficient funding. Discontinuing tennis will enable the reallocation of resources to other sports programs as UTEP prepares for upcoming changes to college athletics, including revenue sharing and roster caps.”

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About Rhiannon Potkey

Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories. Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches. Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You can reach Rhiannon by email at [email protected].