Decorated Wildcat letter winner and longtime assistant coach Juan Nunez was named Abilene Christian’s Director of Tennison June 1, 2020.
Nunez coached both ACUteams during the 2020-21 seasonbefore shifting his entire focus to the men's program, helping it win the 2022 WAC Tournament Championship. The Wildcats defeated New Mexico State, 4-2, and Lamar, 4-1, in their WAC debut to earn the program's first NCAA bid at the DI level.
Four players were voted All-WAC Conference led by First Team honorees Cesar Barranqueroand Dario Kmet, both of whom were newcomers to the program. Veteran Oswald Cano and freshman Daniel Morozov earned second team singles honors from the WAC, while a first team doubles citation was earned by Kmet and Morozov.
These four players in addition to senior Riley Tran addition were tabbed to the WAC's All-Tournament Team. Eight also were named WAC All-Academic.
In his first year as director, Nunez' men's and women's teams won a combined 20 matches and three of his student-athletes were selected to an All-Southland Conference team. Seniors Nini Memishishi and Ileana Mocciola were voted Third Team No. 1 doubles and freshman Mihaly Deli was tabbed Second Team at No. 3 singles.
Memishishi also made the Southland's 2021 All-Academic squad for the second time in her career, along with first-time honorees Allison Stewart and Tran.
Despite both teams beset by injuries, the women's squad posted a 5-5 conference record and won its first-round Southland tournament match, 4-3, against the third-seeded Central Arkansas. The men's team won two of three Southland matches, and earlier in the year the team celebrated senior Joaquin Delgado's win over Sebastian Nothhaft of 15th-ranked Baylor, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 1-0 (10-5), at the No. 4 line, plus a No. 1 doubles triumph over SMU'sLiam Krall and Caleb Chakravarthi,6-4.
Nunez began coaching the Wildcats at the graduate assistant level in 2009 and would later be elevated to Director of Tennis Operations (2013-15) and Assistant Director of Tennis (2019-20).
During his first coaching stint (2009-15), Nunez helped then-head coach Hutton Jones and the Wildcats make a successful transition from NCAA D2 to D1 athletics. The men won three of their last four Lone Star Conference tournaments and made three consecutive NCAA D2 quarterfinal appearances led by All-Americas Hans Hach, Jake Hendrie and Nick Plum.
The men’s team would win five of six Southland Conference matches its first year in the league (2014) with six student-athletes named to an All-Conference team.
ACU’s women’s tennis also dominated its final years of D2. Five different players attained All-America status from 2010-13 as the Wildcats advanced to the national semifinals three times in its last five years. The Wildcats would later win 16 of their first 22 Southland Conference duals led by First Team All-Conference honorees Brittney Reed and sisters Micah and Kaysie Hermsdorf.
Nunez returned to coaching on a full-time basis in August 2019 to assist another former Wildcat letter winner John Walker. The women were off to another strong start in conference play at 3-1, while the men were 8-6 overall when the season was unexpectedly canceled due to the spread of COVID-19. Several players were voted Southland All-Academic and both teams were nominated for the ITA’s All-Academic Award with GPAs over 3.20.
Senior Jonathan Sheehy excelled all season, winning two Southland Conference Player of the Week citations, and earning four national rankings from the ITA. He was ranked as high as 77th at the conclusion of the fall season.
Nunez’ association with Wildcat tennis dates back to 2005 following his graduation from Escuela Preparatoria de la Laguna High School in Mexico. Prior to his ACU playing career, he ranked in the top four in Mexico in Boys 16s singles and among the top 50 in Mexico’s professional rankings.
Nunez enjoyed a tremendous first season at ACU, earning Lone Star Conference Freshman of the Year honors after compiling a 15-7 overall singles record. He also proved his excellence as a doubles player as he went 19-6 with six different partners.
Nunez would later make the league's list of First Team Singles competitors in 2008 and 2009, and during the 2007 season he won both the Lone Star’s singles and doubles championships (with Ryan Hudson).
Nunez has two degrees from ACU. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing in 2009, and a master’s degree in speech communication and rhetoric in 2013. He later served his alma mater as a transfer admissions counselor between coaching stints from 2016-19.
Nunez and his wife, Wildcat basketball alumna Shelby Shipley, have four children: Mia, JJ, Jones, and Valor.
