Since Julia Sell took over the coaching job for women’s tennis at LSU , the program has done nothing but trend upward with high recruiting classes and winning seasons.
Sell was hired in 2012 and her first season in 2013 a struggle for the new head coach. The Lady Tigers went 9-16 , but it didn’t take long for Sell to find success. Brining in talented players has been a major part of her success.
Sell’s 2013 recruiting class was comprised of two five-star recruits - Skylar Holloway and Abigail Owens . LSU finished with a No. 14 recruiting class . Being able to bring in players of such high caliber has continued throughout her tenure.
With such talented players, Sell was able to coach her team to 14 wins and 14 loses in 2014. The stage was being set for LSU to be a place for recruits to come and turn a program into a potential powerhouse.
Sell brought in Jessica Golovin , now senior , and led LSU to its third 20 win season in program history. Golovin was the 2016 Louisiana Freshman of the Year and part of the All-SEC Freshman Team . The Lady Tigers went through a rough patch during the early 2010’s with three consecutive losing seasons before Sell was hired. It didn’t take long for her to bring in players to change the culture.
Sell was able to bring in the No. 1 recruiting class in 2016 . She had the No. 2, No. 10 and No. 13 recruits going to LSU . The Lady Tigers finished the 2016 season with 19 wins and 12 losses . LSU managed to finish No. 18 in the national rankings.
Sell started to compile wins quickly during the first four years . 2017 may have been one of the most important years for Sell in recruiting. She was able to finish with the No. 5 recruiting class and get Eden Richardson to Baton Rouge .
Combining the talent of Richardson with Sell’s ability to progress young players allowed for Richardson to finish with many different accolades throughout the season. One of those was doubles champion along with another of Sell’s recruits, Jessica Golovin . The two Sell recruits brought LSU women’s tennis its first national title in program history .
After the 2018 success, Sell and the Lady Tigers brought in another top-five recruiting class with recruit Anna Loughlan contributing during her freshman season. The 2019 season Sell hit a coaching milestone of 100 wins in her career. Sell has only been with the team for six seasons but has made a huge impact on the program.
Sell has helped lead the program back to national prominence as it climbed the rankings in 2019 . LSU is currently ranked at No. 12 and competed in the ITA National Indoor Championship . The Lady Tigers took an early exit, but Sell kept her team motivated bouncing back with sweeps over lesser teams in the weeks following.
Sell leads her team through the trials of SEC play over the next six weeks before the SEC tournament begins. With Sell at the helm, and her team bought in to the new culture, the Tigers have a chance at making another run on the national stage.
