Conchie Shackelford enters her 39th season at the helm of the Sewanee women’s tennis program in 2024-25.
 
She enters the 2025 campaign with a career record of 665-232, the winningest coach in Sewanee athletics history in any sport and No. 2 in Division III all-time in victories. Shackelford has posted a winning record in every year at the helm of the Tigers, leading the program to 16 conference championships and 30 NCAA Tournament appearances (25-31).
 
Brooke Despriet and Katherine Petty claimed the program’s first-ever national championship in 2024, sweeping through four matches and losing just one set en route to the title, the first for Shackelford as a head coach.

Entering the 2025 campaign, she ranks eighth all-time in career victories across all three NCAA divisions and second in Division III in wins.

Sewanee has finished in the Top 10 of the ITA Division III national rankings 11 times, including back-to-back years in 2021 (No. 6) and 2022 (No. 10). In 38 seasons as head coach, the Tigers have been ranked 25 times in the Top 15 nationally, including 15 straight seasons from 1988-2002. 

Additionally, she has coached 13 singles All-Americans and 19 doubles All-Americans as well as four national Senior Players of the Year.

At the conference level, she has coached 114 All-Conference selections since 1992, including 10 Players of the Year and five Newcomers of the Year. Jenny Liles and Bronte Goodhue also garnered SAA Woman of the Year accolades.

Her peers have voted her conference coach of the year nine times (1992-2007-13-14-15-19-22-23-24), including seven in the SAA, and has been named Region Coach of the Year three times (2001-06-14).

Since Sewanee become a charter member of the Southern Athletic Association in 2013, the Tigers have won every match in conference play (66-0). Additionally, the Tigers have won 10 consecutive SAA regular season and tournament championships, and they have not lost a match in the conference tournament (35-0). Between the SCAC and the SAA, the Tigers are 81-21 (.794) in conference tournament matches.

At the NCAA Team Championships, Sewanee has participated in 30 postseason events, marking the fifth-most in Division III history, registering a 25-31 mark in those matches. The Tigers have made seven quarterfinal appearances with two semifinal finishes. In 1990, the Tigers finished fourth in just the second appearance at the championships.

The team's best finish in the national championships took place in 2007, with Sewanee defeating Williams, 5-3, in the third-place match for the best NCAA finish by any Sewanee team in history. 

On the individual side, she has coached 51 selections on the final ITA singles rankings and 29 in the ITA doubles rankings. At the NCAA Individual Championships, the Tigers have made 27 appearances in the singles event and 21 in doubles. 

Four Tigers have earned NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships during Shackelford’s tenure – Jordan Casey C'09, Jenny Liles C'13, Bronte Goodhue C'15 and Lindsey Liles C'16. Casey, Jenny Liles and Lindsey Liles were also named Academic All-Americans by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Four Sewanee women’s tennis teams are enshrined in the Sewanee Athletics Hall of Fame since its establishment in 2004 – 1990, 1993, 1999 and 2007. In addition, seven individuals have been inducted into the Hall of Fame: 
Cameron Tyer C'93 (2004)
Ellen Gray Maybank C'90 (2007)
Kristen Ialacci Crane C'96 (2008)
Linnie Wheeless C'95 (2008)
Mary Missbach Dressler C'00 (2010)
Laura Fanjoy C'07 (2018)
Katy Morrissey C'90 (2019)
Jordan Casey C'09 (2020)
Jenny Liles C'13 (2023)
 
She has also served on the following committees during her career – NCAA Atlantic South Regional Committee: 1999-2004, 2015-2019 (Chairperson); ITA Atlantic South Regional Committee: 1989-1993; ITA Atlantic South Awards Chair: 2001-2007; and ITA Atlantic South Awards Committee: 2008-2010.
 
The Jacksonville, N.C., native earned her bachelor's in Business in 1982 from the University North Carolina-Wilmington. She received a tennis scholarship at UNC-Wilmington after a stellar career at Jacksonville High School.

She and her husband, John, live in Sewanee and have four children – Avery, Sadie, Michaela and Tessa.

Shackelford’s guiding philosophy has been to combine hard work and fun with each student’s educational experience.
 
“Our girls are committed to our success, balancing the fun and companionship of competing in intercollegiate athletics with the dedication necessary to compete at the highest level of Division III competition while working toward a world-class education. I am most proud of the variety of successes members of our team have found. They are active in contributing to the many facets of campus life and their community,’’ she adds.

Shackelford In the News

• First to 600 - University of the South Release | ITA Release
• UNC Wilmington - Shackelford Builds Legacy in Sewanee