Grinnell College Athletics

Paige Madara took over the Grinnell College tennis team after playing for and coaching highly-successful programs.

She was successful from the start at Grinnell, leading the Pioneers to the 2016 Midwest Conference title while earning league Coach of the Year honors. Grinnell was a perfect 9-0 in MWC play and finished 15-7 overall.

Grinnell followed that with another perfect 9-0 league mark in the fall of 2017 for Madara's second MWC crown and again was MWC Coach of the Year. The Pioneers earned their first regional ranking since 2014 in the spring of 2018, won the MWC Team Tournament, qualified for the NCAA Division III National Tournament and set a school record for wins with 20. Additionally, the team won its first-round NCAA Tournament match in 2018.

The success continued into the fall of 2019 when the Pioneers went through MWC play unbeaten to claim the league crown and Madara was tabbed Coach of the Year. They achieved their first-ever national ranking during the season and finished 12-0 overall.
 
Madara played collegiately at Washington University in St. Louis, which boasts tennis programs that are consistently among the best at the NCAA Division III level.
 
She then served as the assistant women’s coach for the Bears from 2013 through 2015, followed by a move to Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., where she was the assistant women’s coach.
 
Washington and Lee achieved a D-III top 15 ranking last season while claiming the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament title and finishing with a 19-6 record.
 
The Generals advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament and had two players earn spots in the individual NCAA Tournament, one who earned All-America honors.
 
During her time coaching at Washington University, she helped the team to a No. 8 national ranking in 2013-14 and No. 13 ranking the following season. She guided three players to All-America honors.
 
As a player for the Bears from 2009 through 2013, Madara finished with 98 singles and doubles wins and propelled her team to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second time in school history.
 
A team captain, Madara was also an ITA Scholar-Athlete and a University Athletic Association selection while earning a spot on the league’s Presidents Council Scholar-Athlete squad.

She majored in psychology and minored in public health at Washington University and before earning her master’s in social work with a mental health concentration.

Madara also coaches the Pioneer men's team and led the 2019 squad to its 16th MWC title in a row, as well as the league tourney crown and spot in the NCAA Division III National Tournament. Grinnell stretched its MWC winning streak to 97 matches while winning 155 in a row against all league foes, dating back to 2003.

She was named the MWC Coach of the Year in 2019 for the second season in a row as the Pioneers grabbed all nine flight titles at the league meet, becoming just the second team in history to accomplish that.