Elissa Kinard enters her third season as the University at Albany’s tennis coach after being hired on August 1, 2006.
Kinard was named the America East Conference Coach of the Year last season, after guiding the Great Danes to a 18-7 overall record, the best in the program’s Division I history, including a stretch of nine straight wins to start the season. Junior Kim Weltman posted a 20-4 record betwen No. 2 and No. 3 singles while classmate Charlotte Tatler went 21-2 at the fourth singles position. Senior Amanda Hall, who recorded an 18-8 record in singles play, was nominated for the America East Conference Woman of the Year after earning a 3.88 GPA in business administration, and the UAlbany Presidential Scholar-Athlete Award.  The squad also earned ITA All-Academic team honors for the second straight year, and four student-athletes were named to the ITA All-Academic team.
In her first season with the Great Danes, Kinard led the team to a 4-12 record, including a win over Hartford in the America East Conference Tournament. Under her guidance, sophomore Kim Weltman went 14-2 in dual matches between second and third singles play. In addition, the team achieved a GPA of 3.72 to earn recognition as an Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic Team. Each member of the team was also recognized as individual ITA Scholar-Athletes for obtaining a GPA of at least 3.50.
Previously, Kinard had worked for one year at Washington State, a program that was ranked sixth in the Northwest Region, produced a dual-match victory over Pacific-10 Conference rival Washington and had a student-athlete ranked No. 66 nationally in singles play. Her responsibilities included assisting in all stages of recruiting, organizing travel, monitoring the team’s academic program, as well as on-court instruction.
Prior to her arrival on the WSU campus, Kinard served as Colgate University’s assistant men’s and women’s tennis coach. She was also an assistant at American University during the 2004-05 academic year.
Kinard  began her collegiate playing career at the University of Nebraska in the fall of 2000, where she finished as the Big 12 Conference runner-up in singles as a freshman. Following her sophomore campaign, Kinard transferred to Virginia Tech. She was a standout doubles competitor for the Hokies, ranking as high as No. 2 in the East Region and No. 31 nationally by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
A native of Charleston, S.C., Kinard earned a B.S. in sociology and a master’s degree in health promotions from Virginia Tech. As a scholastic athlete, she was named the South Carolina Player of the Year on four occasions and won four state championship titles. Kinard is currently pursuing a master’s degree in educational administration from UAlbany.