Newly appointed LSU women’s tennis coach Julia Sell brings an immense amount of success, not only as a coach but also as a player, at the collegiate level of tennis.
Sell has assembled one of the best coaching staffs in the nation at LSU, a staff that includes her husband, Michael Sell, who was recently hired as the head coach for John Isner, the No. 1 American player in the nation.
Julia Sell, most recently an assistant coach at Notre Dame, helped lead the Fighting Irish to back-to-back Final Four appearances in the NCAA Team Tournament. The Irish also won three Big East titles during Sell’s time with the team.
“Julia is a rising star in women’s tennis,” said LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva. “She is very bright, passionate and competitive. … I am very excited about having her join our team.”
As a player, Julia Sell was the top performer for the Florida’s 2003 national championship team, after which she received the Intercollegiate Tennis Association South Region Player of the Year award in the same year.
Michael Sell was the assistant coach for the men’s and women’s squads during the 2012 London Olympics and also worked as the head coach for the U.S. Tennis Association Players Development from 2003-12.
“We feel extremely lucky to have one of the best coaches in the nation as our volunteer coach,” said senior captain Kaitlin Burns. “He brings a lot of experience from the top level, and tells us what players at the pro level are doing to get better.”
Bringing an international flair to the program, Amine Boustani rounds out the highly decorated staff.
Boustani — who hails from Casablanca, Morocco — most recently served as the head of coaching and development for the Qatar Tennis Federation.
Before working in Qatar, Boustani was a highly respected and successful college coach. His career began in 1994 at Drury University, where he was eventually inducted to the university’s athletics Hall of Fame.
Boustani led Drury to the NCAA-II National Tournament 11 consecutive times and was named the ITA Division-II National Coach of the Year twice. He also won Conference Coach of the year for nine consecutive years.
“We have been friends for a long time and share the same passion for tennis and coaching,” Julia Sell said. “His background in collegiate tennis and player development will be a huge asset to this program.”
The coaches have a common philosophy: fitness. When Julia Sell was first hired, she set out on a path to change the culture of LSU.
Julia Sell said many women were vomiting during the first 10 minutes of practice early in the season, but have recently shown improvement.
“We are probably the fittest team in the country right now,” Burns said. “Even our practices are super physical.”
The new coaching staff has instilled a level of excitement and desire to win that has recently been missing from the program, they said.
“We don’t want to be a team that accepts being in the middle of the rankings,” Boustani said. “We want to compete at the top level and challenge some of the top teams in the nation.”
“We don’t want to be a team that accepts being in the middle of the rankings. We want to compete at the top level and challenge some of the top teams in the nation.”
