Women's Tennis

Jo Keene
Jo Keene

Hometown:
Kenilworth, United Kingdom
Last College:
Houston ('03)
Position:
Assistant Coach
Experience:
Seventh Season
Phone/Email:
(713) 743-4051
JKeene@central.uh.edu

Jo Keene returns to the University of Houston for her seventh season as an assistant coach after an impressive collegiate career with the Cougars from 2000-02.

Keene's responsibilities include on-court coaching, academics, team travel, home tournament organization, strength and conditioning, housing, recruiting and racquet re-stringing.

"I trust Jo, and I know what to expect from her," head coach John Severance said. "When you have someone in the program that you can trust and you know your expectations are met, it makes things run a lot smoother and it's easier to communicate when everyone's on the same page."

During her six seasons as an assistant, Keene has helped coach six All-Conference USA selections, including fellow British native Leila Salek to the 2007 First Team All-Conference, 2007 C-USA Newcomer of the Year and 2007-08 All-Conference USA Second Team.

Houston enjoyed its ninth-straight winning season overall in 2011 and the sixth consecutive under Keene's tutelage, posting a 16-8 mark, which tied for the 10th-most wins in a single season in program history.

The Cougars endured several injuries during the first portion of the 2011 season before reeling off nine victories in the last 10 matches to wrap up the regular season.

Houston went 11-8 in 2010 and fell to East Carolina in the opening round of the Conference USA Championship. Despite losing the top-four performers from the previous season, who compiled a 57-16 singles mark, the Cougars pushed their streak of winning seasons to eight years.

Keene helped guide the Cougars to an 18-4 mark in 2009. After the regular season came to an end, they fell to Rice in the C-USA Championships quarterfinals. But on-court success was not the only area of her expertise as eight Cougars were selected to the C-USA Dean's List. She also helped guide Lynley Wasson to the First Team C-USA All-Academic team and Joanna Kacprzyk to Third Team All-Conference as well as Neila Starratt to ITA Scholar honors for the third year in a row.

The Cougars finished 16-11 in 2008, including a victory over a ranked opponent. The Cougars entered the season after winning nine of their 12 homes games in 2008.

Houston posted a 20-5 record in her first season in addition to an undefeated record at home. The last time the program reached those feats was during the 1989-90 season.

Before returning to her alma mater, Keene was the head coach for both the varsity and junior varsity tennis teams at the Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Houston. She coached the team to the 2005 Division 6A District III singles, doubles and team championships. She also succeeded in taking four players to the Texas State Championships over the 2004 and 2005 seasons.

Keene was also a graphic analyst for the BBC working directly with producers during the Wimbledon Championships in 2004 and 2005.

As a player, Keene was a member of the Cougar tennis team from 2000-2002 after playing two seasons at McNeese State.

She compiled a 25-7 mark over two seasons as a Cougar, including an 8-0 career record in Conference USA action and was a C-USA Third Team selection in 2002. She was also named team MVP in her senior season.

Keene ranks 10th on the single-season winning percentage list. She recorded a .781 percent in the 2001-02 season.

"I am a proud former Cougar student-athlete," Keene said. "I strive to inspire the same pride in our current team and encourage them to make the absolute most of their college experience."

Keene, a native of England, graduated from Houston in 2003 with a bachelor of arts in sociology.

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