Brian Kalbas - Head Coach - Staff Directory - University of North Carolina Athletics

Staff Directory

Brian Kalbas

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
Phone:
919-962-6262

Brian Kalbas File
• Winngest active coach in the nation (and third all-time) with 797 wins entering 2025-26
• National Coach of the Year: 1998, 2010, 2023
• Nine-time ITA Regional Coach of the Year (most recently, 2023)
• Career Record: 797-196 (.803) in 33 seasons
• UNC Record: 583-111 (.840) in 22 seasons
• NCAA Team Championship Record: 82-33 (68-25 at UNC, 14-8 at W&M)

At North Carolina
• NCAA National Championship: 2023
• ITA National Team Indoor Championships: 2013, ‘15, ‘18, ’20, ’21, '22, '23
• ACC Championship titles: 2011, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18, ’19, ’21, ‘24, '25
• ACC Coach of the Year: 2010, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’15, ’21
• NCAA Doubles National Championship: Sara Anundsen/Jenna Long, 2007; Makenna Jones/Elizabeth Scotty, 2021; Fiona Crawley/Carson Tanguilig, 2023
• NCAA Singles National Championship: Jamie Loeb, 2015

At William & Mary
• Nine CAA Championships titles (most recently, 2002)
• CAA Coach of the Year: 1995, ’96, ’99 and 2002

Career Highlights
• Under Kalbas, UNC players have received a total of 78 total All-America honors
• ITA National Player and Rookie of the Year (Jamie Loeb, 2014)
• ITA National Player of the Year (Fiona Crawley, 2023)
• ITA Most Improved Senior of the Year (Anika Yarlagadda, 2023)
• 2023 NCAA champions
• Runner-up at 2014 NCAA Team championship
• Seven NCAA Team Championship semifinal appearances (2010, ’14, ’19, ’21, '22, '23, '25)
• 14 NCAA Team Championship quarterfinal appearances
• Three ITA Arthur Ashe Award winners
• Coached Team USA at the 2007 Pan American Games in Brazil
• Named to the North Carolina Tennis Hall of Fame in 2025 as part of its Class of 2026.

Brian Kalbas has been nothing short of brilliant as head coach of the North Carolina women’s tennis program. The winningest coach in ACC women’s tennis history, Kalbas will embark on his 23rd season in Chapel Hill in 2025-26 at the helm of one of the most successful programs collegiate tennis has seen over the last two decades. The 2025-26 season also marks the 34th year as a collegiate head coach for the three-time ITA National Coach of the Year.

Highlighted by the program's first NCAA championship in 2023 and its seventh ITA National Team Indoor Championship (2013, ’15, ’18, ’20, ’21, '22, '23), a runner-up finish at the 2014 NCAA Championship, seven appearances in the NCAA semifinals (2010, ’14, ’19, ’21, '22, '23, '25), a trio of NCAA doubles titles in 2007, 2021 and 2023 and Jamie Loeb’s NCAA singles crown in 2015, UNC has advanced to the NCAA tournament all 22 years it’s been held under Kalbas’ tutelage. Additionally, he has won eight ACC Championships, including five straight from 2016-19, ’21 (2020 was not held due to COVID-19), and has been named ACC Coach of the Year six times.

Kalbas owns a career record of 797-196 (.803) and has the most dual victories among active Division I women's tennis head coaches. Kalbas’ scintillating 583-111 (.840) mark with the Tar Heels gives him the highest winning percentage in ACC history.

Kalbas has averaged 28 victories and posted an .898 (398-45) winning percentage over the last 14 seasons. The Tar Heels have registered seven 30-win seasons, including six of the last 11 years, reached seven NCAA Championship final fours and won seven ITA national team indoor titles.

Perhaps more impressive than all those facts and figures, Kalbas has never had a scholarship player transfer from his UNC program, and perhaps most importantly, every single student-athlete that has completed four years at UNC has left Chapel Hill with a degree in hand.

Kalbas became only the fourth Division I women's coach to win 700 career matches during the 2021-22 season. He joined an exclusive group that includes Georgia's Wallace, Lin Loring, who won 846 matches at UC Santa Barbara and Indiana (1973-2016) and Jay Louderback, who compiled 703 wins at Wichita State, Iowa State and Notre Dame (1979-2018).

in 2022, Kalbas guided his team to a No. 3 ranking in the final 2022 ITA team rankings with a 28-3 record in dual matches. UNC captured the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title and won a third-straight ITA National Team Indoor Championship. Carolina spent nearly the entire spring season ranked No. 1 in the nation and earned the top overall seed at the NCAA Team Championship and advanced to the semifinals.

Carolina again enjoyed a magnificent season in 2020-21. The Tar Heels won their fifth ITA National Team Indoor Championship, won back-to-back titles for the first time, and secured a fifth-straight ACC Championship. Makenna Jones and Elizabeth Scotty won the NCAA Doubles Championship, while Alexa Graham brought home the ITA Fall Championship singles title. Additionally, Sara Daavettila became the first player in program history named the Honda Sport Award winner, while also garnering ACC Player of the Year honors.

UNC earned the program’s first No. 1 seed at the NCAA Team Championship and reached the final four for a fourth time. Carolina set an ACC record by winning 48-straight dual matches that spanned the 2020 and 2021 seasons, finished with a 30-1 record and No. 2 in the final ITA rankings, the best in Tar Heel women’s tennis history.

Kalbas and the Tar Heels rose to the top of the collegiate tennis world in 2007 when seniors Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long defeated Megan Moulton-Levy and Katarina Zoricic of William & Mary to claim the NCAA Doubles Championship. The title capped an incredible season for the duo that saw them reach No. 1 in the nation and earn National Doubles Team of the Year honors from the ITA, as they became the first Tar Heels to win an NCAA tennis title.

The Tar Heels made a team run in 2010 that would rival the accomplishments of Anundsen and Long. After rising to the No. 1 ranking in the ITA national poll for the first time in UNC history, Carolina was awarded the No. 2 overall seed to the NCAA Team Championships and advanced to the national semifinals for the first time in school history. Wins over Richmond and UNLV in the Chapel Hill Regional led to a trip to the Sweet 16 in Athens, Ga., where the Tar Heels defeated ACC rivals Florida State and Duke for a spot in the Final Four. In addition to the memorable NCAA run, the Tar Heels ran through the ACC with a perfect 11-0 record and finished the dual season with a then school record 30 wins. For Kalbas, the season culminated in his second ITA National Coach of the Year award.

Despite the loss of four seniors from the 2010 team, Kalbas and the Tar Heels did not miss a beat in 2011. Led by the All-America trio of Zoe De Bruycker, Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale, UNC finished 26-6, advanced to the national quarterfinals and won the program’s first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title since 2002.

The aforementioned success was good, but Kalbas continued to push the program forward. In 2013, Carolina produced its first national indoor title with an incredible four-day run that culminated with a thrilling 4-3 victory over top-seeded UCLA. Freshman Whitney Kay won a three-setter to clinch the final point in a tiebreaker, her second such clinching victory in a span of three days. All-America’s Caroline Price and Gina Suarez-Malaguti, who was also named ACC Player of the Year, led the Tar Heels to another No. 2 national seed in the NCAA Championships and advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to the UCLA Bruins.

Expectations were sky high leading into the 2013-14 season with the additions of blue chip prospects Jamie Loeb and Hayley Carter to an already seasoned roster. The newcomers did not disappoint as Loeb was named ITA National Player and Rookie of the Year, while Carter was the ITA National Player to Watch and the ACC Rookie of the Year. Both players won at least 50 singles matches and were No. 1 and 3, respectively, in the final ITA rankings. Kalbas had a quartet of All-America players at his disposal that year with Loeb and Carter garnering honors in both singles and doubles, while Kay and Price received the nod in doubles.

Seeded No. 7 in the NCAA Team Championship, Carolina rolled over VCU and Georgia State in the Chapel Hill Regional to roll into the Sweet 16 in Athens, Ga. The Tar Heels topped Texas A&M and upset No. 2 seed Alabama to reach the semifinals for the second time in program history. This time UNC came out on top in the semifinals as Loeb outlasted Stanford’s Kristie Ahn in a three-setter for a place in the national championship against who else, but UCLA. The thrilling final went to the Bruins by a 4-3 margin.

The Tar Heels were selected No. 2 in the preseason ITA rankings to begin 2014-15 and those early accolades proved correct when Kalbas’ club won the 2015 ITA National Team Indoor Championship, the second such title in three years. Carolina surrendered only two points in running through the field with wins over Oklahoma State, Miami, Florida and Georgia in consecutive days.

North Carolina had a stranglehold on the No. 1 ranking for eight weeks in the spring of 2015. The team won its first 27 dual matches to start the season, and would earn the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Team Championship after finally losing in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship. The Tar Heels reached the quarterfinals, but lost to UCLA in the NCAAs for the third time in four years.

That early exit in the tournament gave Loeb a few extra days of preparation for the NCAA Singles Championship and the two-time ACC Player of the Year took full advantage by winning six matches in six days. Loeb defeated second-seeded Carol Zhao of Stanford in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, to garner the first singles national title in program history in Waco, Texas.

The 2015-16 season saw the program forced to fill the shoes of departed All-America’s Caroline Price to graduation and Loeb to professional tennis, however, Carter turned in another spectacular season. She became the first UNC player ranked No. 1 nationally in both singles and doubles at the same time, was named ACC Player of the Year and earned All-America status in both singles and doubles with playing partner Whitney Kay. Additionally, the Tar Heels set a then program record with 31 dual victories, and won the ACC Championship after posting a second-straight 14-0 record against the ACC in the regular season.

The combination of Carter, a pair of standout sophomores and a trio of talented freshmen drove the 2016-17 edition of Tar Heel tennis to another successful campaign. Carolina was again the No. 1 seed in the ACC Championship for the fifth year in a row and made it back-to-back conference crowns with a victory over Georgia Tech in the title match. Carter repeated as ACC Player of the Year and MVP of the league’s tournament, while Sara Daavettila was named ACC Freshman of the Year.

The Tar Heels once again garnered the No. 2 seed in the 2017 NCAA Team Championship and reached the quarterfinals before bowing out to defending champion Stanford. UNC set a school record with 33 dual-match victories. Carter earned her sixth and seventh All-America honors in both singles and doubles, while Jessie Aney and Daavettila grabbed their first in doubles and singles, respectively.

Program prosperity continued into the 2017-18 campaign. Carolina won the ITA Indoor National Team Championship for the third time, spent a school record 10 consecutive weeks as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, won its third-straight ACC Championship and was awarded the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Team Championship.

The program saw a new face rise to promise in the likes of Makenna Jones. The second-year player vaulted to the top of the ITA national singles rankings, and received the No. 2 seed at the NCAA Singles Championship that gave her All-America status for the first time. Jones was joined by a quartet of teammates that earned All-America plaudits in doubles (Aney, Daavettila, Alexa Graham, Alle Sanford), giving UNC a school record five All-Americans in 2018.

Success continued for the Tar Heels in the 2018-19 campaign by winning a fourth successive ACC Championship, while also reaching the finals of the ITA Indoor Team Championship for the fifth year in a row. Seeded No. 2 in the NCAA Team Championship for a sixth time in 10 seasons, Carolina exacted a bit of revenge on UCLA in the team quarterfinals to reach the semis for a third time.

Carolina boasted five All-Americas for the second-straight year, including Cameron Morra who became the first UNC freshman to reach the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championship in Orlando. Graham, Jones and Morra earned All-America status in both singles and doubles, while Aney grabbed a third doubles honor and Daavettila reached the singles quarters for her second All-America citation in three seasons.

The 2019-20 campaign turned out to be one of the most successful in program history, but also the strangest when the season was canceled due to the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 17 when the season came to an end, the Tar Heels were No. 1 in the national polls with a perfect 18-0 record, had already won the 2020 ITA Indoor championship and sat atop the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.

Sara Daavettila won the 2019 ITA Fall Singles Championship, Cameron Morra won the ITA Carolina Regional singles title and Alexa Graham was runner-up at the ITA All-American Championship. All three would earn All-America honors and finished among the top-10 ranked players in the country.

Kalbas served as head coach of William & Mary’s women’s tennis team for 11 years before accepting the head coaching position at Carolina in the summer of 2003. At William & Mary, Kalbas posted a 214-85 overall record and was named the 1998 ITA National Coach of the Year.

Kalbas was a four-time Colonial Athletic Association Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year, winning the honor in 1995, 1996, 1999 and 2002. He was recognized as the ITA Regional Coach of the Year four times during his tenure at W&M.

He piloted his William & Mary teams to nine CAA Championships, the most recent being in 2002. Kalbas also coached William & Mary to two NCAA quarterfinals appearances. Under Kalbas’ direction at William & Mary and Carolina, he has coached 24 players to 56 total All-America honors.

Carolina continued its impressive run of NCAA success under Kalbas in 2009, with the team earning a bid as well as several individuals making the field. As a team, the Tar Heels defeated Georgia State before falling to ACC-rival Clemson in the second round. Individually, Marand and Tsang both earned singles bids, while Marand and Grabinski were joined in the doubles field by Tsang and senior Austin Smith. Marand advanced to the national quarterfinals, becoming just the third Tar Heel to reach the final eight in program history.

Both Tsang and Marand qualified for the NCAA Singles tournament in 2008 and Marand partnered with Grabinski to earn a doubles bid. Kalbas helped guide three singles players (Long, Tsang and Marand) and two doubles pairs (Anundsen/Long, Marand/Caitlin Collins) to NCAA play in 2007, marking the most Tar Heels ever to earn invites to the NCAA individual tournaments. Carolina also had more NCAA participants than any school in the nation in 2007. Long was also named the ITA Senior Player of the Year for her accomplishments in 2007.

UNC had yet another highly successful season in dual match play in 2007. Carolina finished third in the highly-competitive ACC, a league which produced all three NCAA women’s titles during the year (singles, doubles, team). The Tar Heels were also named a host site for NCAA first and second round action, and they defeated Marist and rival Duke to advance to the Sweet Sixteen in Athens, Ga., where they fell in a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to Notre Dame.

Carolina reached a new team pinnacle in 2006, earning a national ranking of No. 3 and advancing to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the second straight season, falling to Duke in the Round of 16. With a final record of 26-7, UNC posted its highest win total since the 1981-82 squad finished 26-14. Kalbas was named the Wilson/ITA Southeast Region Coach of the Year for his efforts.

The 2004-05 season was capped by a dramatic run to the NCAA Quarterfinals. After finishing 7-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, the Tar Heels earned the right to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Team Championships. Carolina opened the tournament with a 4-0 victory over Richmond. UNC then defeated rival Duke 4-0 for a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. Playing in just its third Sweet Sixteen, Carolina opened with a 4-0 upset of fourth-ranked Vanderbilt. The Tar Heels finished one win away from the Final Four, falling to Clemson 4-1 in the quarterfinals.

In 2005, Kendall Cline and Aniela Mojzis both received national awards from the ITA. Cline was awarded the ITA/Cissie Leary Sportsmanship Award and Mojzis received the ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship, marking the first time in ITA history that one school won both awards. Mojzis is the third player to win the national Arthur Ashe Award under Kalbas’ leadership. Carolijn van Rossum and Jessyca Arthur both won the award while Kalbas was coaching at William & Mary.

In 2007, Kalbas was tabbed to lead the United States team at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 13-29. Kalbas fronted a team of three of the nation’s best collegiate players, including Atlantic Coast Conference standout and NCAA champion Audra Cohen of Miami.

Kalbas is a 1989 graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where he was a four-year varsity player, playing at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in singles. He was captain of the Fighting Irish men’s tennis team his senior year and received the most valuable player and sportsmanship awards from Notre Dame. After graduation, Kalbas served as an assistant coach for the Notre Dame men’s tennis team from 1989-92. During his tenure, the Fighting Irish made their way to the Top 20 for the first time in school history, and, in 1992, the Irish reached the NCAA Championship match.

Kalbas and his wife, Suzanne, have two children, Sarah and Joseph, who currently serves as the Director of Data Analytics for the program.