Sell to leave Princeton

Kathy Sell will step down as head coach of the women’s tennis team, the University announced Wednesday. Sell, a New Jersey native who will move to North Carolina to be closer to her boyfriend and immediate family, is the third coach in 10 days to part ways with the University.

“I have thought about this for quite some time, and, on a personal level, I am ready to move forward with my life,” Sell said in a University statement. “Princeton has afforded me an excellent coaching education and incredible relationships with student-athletes who I will continue to follow and support.”

Sell had a record of 63-41 during her five years at Princeton. This past spring, she led the women’s tennis team to its first Ivy League championship and NCAA tournament bid in nine years.

The 2001 Outstanding Scholar-Athlete at Duke, Sell served as an assistant coach at the University of Oregon before coming to Princeton.

Director of Athletics Gary Walters ’67 called Sell “a terrific coach and ambassador for Princeton tennis.”

“Our student-athletes and the athletic department are indebted to her for her significant contributions to the overall quality of our athletic program,” Walters said in the statement. “We wish her well as she moves on to the next exciting phase of her life.”

The athletics department will begin its national search for Sell’s successor just as it gets its national search for a new men’s lacrosse head coach back into gear.

On June 8, Bill Tierney announced he was ending his 22-year tenure as the head coach of the men’s lacrosse team to become the head coach at the University of Denver. And on Tuesday, the University announced that men’s lacrosse associate head coach David Metzbower, who declined an offer to succeed Tierney, will also be leaving the program.