Assistant coach Chris Frusci enters his third season with the Bears in 2017-18.
Last season with the Bears, Frusci helped guide Baylor to its 14th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance along with an 18-14 overall record. He saw Camilla Abbate earn second-team All-Big 12 honors in singles while watching freshmen Livia Kraus and Kristina Sorokolet earn Big 12 All-Freshmen Team honors.
In his first season, Frusci helped Baylor to its 13th-straight NCAA appearance, an undefeated regular season at home (15-0), an 8-2 Big 12 record and a 22-7 dual match record overall. The Bears advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the 13th-consecutive season and the 15th time overall as a team.
Four Bears earned All-Big 12 recognition in 2017, while senior Blair Shankle was recognized as a singles All-American for the first time after advancing to the NCAA Round of 16. Shankle was also named ITA Most Improved Senior, CoSIDA Academic All-American, Big 12 Spring Distinguished Scholar-Athlete of the Year and nominated for NCAA Woman of the Year.
Prior to his arrival, Frusci served as the head coach for both the men’s and women’s tennis teams at Saint Leo University in Florida. In his second season at Saint Leo, the Lynbrook, N.Y., native claimed multiple coach of the year awards, securing men’s and women’s ITA National and South Region Coach of the Year honors at the Division II level. He was also named the 2016 Sunshine State Conference Men’s Coach of the Year.
Under Frusci’s watch in 2016, the men’s program at Saint Leo earned its program-first SSC regular season title and first-ever SSC Tournament crown. The Lions garnered their first-ever No. 1 ranking in the South Region, while being named the No. 1 team in the nation for a solid part of the season. Saint Leo won its first-ever NCAA South Region title to make the NCAA Championships for the first time. In its first trip, the team finished as national runner-up after falling to Hawaii Pacific, 5-3, in the National Championship match. The Lions concluded 2016 as the No. 2 team in the country with a 27-2 record overall.
In 2016, Frusci guided the Saint Leo women’s tennis team to their second NCAA semifinal finish in school history. The Lions wrapped up the season with a 23-3 overall record, an undefeated 8-0 record in Sunshine State Conference play and the program’s first-ever SSC regular season title. Saint Leo finished the year with a No. 3 ranking. He saw five student-athletes earn All-SSC honors, along with the program’s first-ever player and freshman of the year awards. Three of Frusci’s athletes earned ITA All-American singles honors, and two earn ITA All-American doubles honors.
In his first season at Saint Leo, Frusci guided the men’s team to 16-6 record and a 5-1 Sunshine State Conference record. He coached three All-SSC Selections and two All-American’s in his first year on the men’s side. The Lions finished 2015 ranked No. 7 in the nation.
On the women’s side, the Lions finished with a 19-6 record and a 6-2 SSC record. They were a finalist in the NCAA South Region Tournament and ended the season ranked No. 6 in the nation. Frusci mentored three All-SSC Selections and one All-American on the women’s side.
Prior to his time with the Lions, Frusci spent four seasons at the New York Institute of Technology, including three as the head coach. He proved himself to be a contender within the competitive world of Division II tennis, leading the Bears to national prominence in his four seasons. During the 2014 season, he led the NYIT men’s team to its second
consecutive trip to the NCAA DII round of 16, all while leading the
women’s team to an appearance in the NCAA DII quarterfinal round, the farthest the Bears had advanced in their short four-year history as a program.
He was named the 2014 ITA Men’s and Women’s East Region Coach of the Year and 2014 ECC Co-Coach of the Year. In his three seasons as head coach at NYIT, Frusci coached 25 ECC All-Academic selections, 20 All-ECC selections, four CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees, four ECC Rookies of the year, three ECC Players of the Year, one ECC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, one ITA Women’s East Region Player to Watch, one ITA All-American, and one CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-America selection.
He received his bachelor of science in business administration with a concentration in marketing from Muhlenberg in 2008.