[Women's Tennis Team with Head Coach Luciano Battaglini]

Head Coach Luciano Battaglini, sixth season
Phone: 507-222-4053 (office) 612-209-8475 (cell)
Email: lhbattag@carleton.edu
[Luciano Battaglini]Record at Carleton: 67-34 (five seasons)

Luciano Battaglini took over as Carleton's head women's tennis coach prior to the 2007-08 season and has built the Knights into a one of the top programs in the Midwest. His squads have been nationally ranked each of the last three seasons, helping earn Battaglini recognition as the 2011 ITA Division III National Women's Coach of the Year as well as 2011 Regional Coach of the Year.

A native of Brazil, he garnered MIAC Coach-of-the-Year honors after guiding Carleton to the both MIAC’s regular-season and postseason titles in 2012, culminating with the Knights fourth trip to the NCAA Team Championships. During his time at Carleton, Battaglini has coached players to a combined four All-American citations, 33 All-MIAC awards, 22 ITA Scholar-Athlete awards, and four individual appearances at the NCAA Championships.

Prior to coming to Carleton, Battaglini worked one season as the assistant women’s tennis coach at Oklahoma State University (D-I), where he helped lead the Cowgirls to their first Big 12 title in school history. Oklahoma State finished the 2002-03 season ranked 25th in the nation. He then spent four seasons as the assistant women’s tennis coach at the University of Minnesota (D-I), and his connections to that program have allowed the Knights to play against Division I competition on several occasions.

Battaglini is a member of the United States Professional Tennis Association (USTA) and has completed the USTA High Performance Coaching seminar.

Fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese, he received his bachelor of science degree in psychology from Oklahoma Christian University, where he played tennis from 1996-2000. He was a 2000 ITA All-American and ITA Scholar-Athlete. Battaglini earned his master's degree in family science from Oklahoma State University. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in sports psychology at the University of Minnesota.

Prior to his collegiate career, Battaglini was a seven-time state champion in Brasilia, Brazil, as a junior player, and went over 100 matches without a loss from 1990-96. In 1989-90, he was ranked in the nation's top 10 among junior players and rose to the top five in 1992. During his tennis career in Brazil, Battaglini had the opportunity to train and compete against former number one professional player in the world, Gustavo Kuerten, as well as former top 100 professional players Mariano Puerta, Mariano Zabaleta, Andre Sa, Marcos Daniel and Alexandre Simoni.

He also serves as an assistant professor in the physical education, athletics and recreation department at Carleton.

Assistant Coach Zach Pruitt '00, fourth season
Email: zpruitt@carleton.edu

Zach Pruitt enters his fourth year as an assistant coach with the women’s tennis team. He has spent 10 seasons serving as an assistant coach and recruiting liaison for the men’s program, a role he continues to fill. A two-time Wisconsin state doubles champion and all-state selection, Pruitt was captain and played #1 singles for the Knights as a senior. In 2000, he received the MIAC’s Arthur Ashe Award, given to a player who combines tennis and academic excellence with sportsmanship and humanitarian concern. Pruitt earned his B.A. in political science from Carleton in 2000 and his M.A. from the University of Chicago in 2006. In addition to his tennis duties, Pruitt is the executive director of the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative, a local non-profit youth organization.