Gretchen Rush was named head tennis coach in June of 2020.
Prior to taking over at Hollins, Rush was the head tennis coach at her alma mater, Trinity University, in San Antonio. In her five seasons at the helm at Trinity, the Tigers improved from #32 to #14 in three years, won five conference championships and made five NCAA regional appearances. The team also boasted five NCAA All-Americans and was named an All-Academic All-American team all five seasons
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Before Trinity, she was the head women’s tennis coach at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CA) Colleges during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. Rush led the Athenas, members of the NCAA Division III, to a 53-10 (.839) overall record and to two Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championships.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps placed fourth at the 2013 NCAA Championships, and advanced to the quarterfinals in 2014. Under Rush’s leadership, a Claremont singles player, and a doubles team, finished as runners-up at the 2013 NCAAs. Another Athenas doubles team finished second in 2014.
She was the head coach at San Diego (CA) City College from 2008-2012. She earlier served in a similar capacity at Our Lady of Peace High School in San Diego from 1995-1997 and was an assistant coach at San Diego State University in the 1993-94 academic year.
Rush had a standout collegiate playing career, playing at Trinity University. During her time with the Tigers, which was formerly a Division I program, she was a four-time All-American, an NCAA Division I doubles champion, two time finalist in NCAA singles and doubles and in her senior year, won the Broderick Award (now the Honda Sports Award) as the nation's top collegiate tennis player. During that time, Trinity also made four Final Four team appearances,
After leaving Trinity, Rush played on the Women's Tennis Association's professional tour. She amassed 191 singles wins on the WTA tour, including singles appearances in the quarterfinals of the US Open (1982), the French Open (1983) and Wimbledon (1989). As a doubles competitor, she picked up 193 wins, made an appearance in the quarterfinals of the 1988 Australian Open and three appearances in the Wimbledon quarterfinals (1986, 1991 and 1992). And in 1988, along with partner Kelly Jones, Rush was a finalist in mixed doubles.
She represented the United States in the 1984 Olympic Games, held in Los Angeles, where she lost to eventual semifinalist, Catherine Tanvier, of France. During her time on the WTA circuit, Rush reached an individual high ranking of 13th and a doubles ranking of 16th. She retired from professional tennis in 1992 and was inducted into the Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame in 2016.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Rush had an exemplary career as a junior player as well. She won the USTA Junior Grass Court Championship, and the Italian Junior Championship, as well as advancing to the finals of the National Junior Tournament. Rush was named the ITF Junior Amateur Champion of 1983 and 1984.
She is the mom of three adult children, a son (Matthew), and twin daughters (Katie and Marin).
