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College Feature
Julia and Mike Sell Bring Out the Best in LSU
by Marcia Frost, 2 March 2016
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It's not unheard of to have a husband and wife coaching a college tennis team. For example, Sonia Hahn and Michael Patrick have been doing it for 17 years at the University of Tennessee. but the story of Julia and Mike Sell is a very different one.
Julia Scaringe (
Florida '03) and Mike Sell (
Georgia '95) both came through college tennis, both did stints on the professional tour, and then both decided to head into careers as coaches. But the two of them took different paths.
During the years Julia Scaringe was honing her skills as a college coach, first as an Assistant at Harvard University and then at Notre Dame, Mike Sell was coaching professionals such as Monica Seles and Serena Williams - as well as developing juniors for the USTA.
In 2011, Julia would leave college coaching briefly to join Mike coaching in Florida. The pair were married a year later and moved to Baton Rouge - when Julia Sell was offered the Head Coach position at Louisiana State University.
The rest of the story is theirs to tell, but it's been a fairytale that includes a record-breaking team - and that's before they get in what Tennis Recruiting has labeled the No. 1 recruiting class of 2016. I sat down with them at the ITA Indoors to talk about it.
Questions and Answers
Marcia Frost (MF): You made it into the ITA Indoors for after upsetting Georgia Tech in the ITA Kickoff.
Julia Sell (JS): Yes, this is the first time in school history we have reached the Indoors, so it's a big deal for us.
MF: Did you have thoughts going into the season that this might happen - that you might reach Madison and even win a round like you did against Oklahoma State?
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