Players often snicker when head coach Paige Yaroshuk-Tews steps onto the court wielding her Prince Graphite Classic racquet—a 1980s relic that lacks today’s ultra-light materials and innovative string patterns. It’s the same no-frills model she used in high school, when she ranked No. 1 in Florida and No. 8 nationwide, and at UCLA as an All-American in the No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles positions.

“It’s meat and potatoes,” she says of the racquet and applies that same philosophy to coaching. “Sometimes recruits and their parents want to know what the magic is. There is no magic; we just work our tails off.”

The UM women’s tennis team ranked 36th in the nation when Yaroshuk-Tews took charge in 2001 after serving for four years as assistant coach and then associate head coach. Hard work yielded wins, which then raised eyebrows. “Before I knew it, I had Megan Bradley calling me to transfer from UCLA,” says Yaroshuk-Tews.

More standout recruits have succeeded Bradley, B.S.Ed. ’05, including Audra Cohen, who made UM history in 2007 by winning the NCAA singles title. For the past three years, the team finished in the top 12 out of more than 60 NCAA teams. Two years ago it reached the national championship finals for the first time in 20 years. The team is also one of only ten U.S. programs selected as a regional host for the NCAA tournament during the last four seasons.

“With Paige, I developed my work ethic and patience, and I learned how to stay relaxed,” says Cohen, who turned pro at the end of her junior year but plans to complete her psychology degree part-time.

Yaroshuk-Tews, the first coach in UM women’s tennis history to win more than 20 matches a season four seasons in a row, was inducted into the Dade County Tennis Hall of Fame earlier this year. Her work ethic is a vestige of father Ernie Yaroshuk, B.Ed. ’63, a former Hurricanes baseball player and UM Hall of Famer. “We’d go out on the court, and I’d have to hit 20 balls down the line. If I got 18 out of 20, we’d start over—no questions asked,” says Yaroshuk-Tews, noting that her players balk at discipline more than she ever did. “You should hear what happens when somebody has to run two extra sprints because she didn’t run down a drop shot!”

Mother to newborn Landon and 3-year-old Emma, “who likes to drag my racquet around the house,” Yaroshuk-Tews knows the importance of balance. She sends the team to yoga twice a week to offset the four-hours-a-day training. “It helps relax their minds, and it’s amazing how much it has kept our injuries down.”

Husband Scott Tews, a judge, is often in the stands at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center, along with the entire Yaroshuk-Tews extended clan. Family is top priority, and something the coach takes into account when scoping out potential recruits.

“If I see that a player is disrespectful to her parents, then I’m finished with the recruiting process,” she says. “Even if she’s No. 1 in the country, she needs to be humble. Otherwise, she won’t mesh with me or this program.”

A sense of humor and an open-door policy enable Yaroshuk-Tews to unify her team. “The year we made it to the NCAA finals, I said, ‘This is what it’s about. This is why we work hard,’” she explains. “All of them looked at me, crying, and I could tell they all had respect for one another and for the demands of this program.”