Kansas State women’s tennis head coach Jordan Smith announced on Monday the addition of former Wildcat student-athlete Maria Linares as assistant coach. Linares competed for K-State for five seasons from 2017-2022.
Linares, a native of Maracay, Venezuela, spent the last two years at Florida State, first as a volunteer before being promoted to assistant coach during the 2023-24 season, under 20-year head coach Jennifer Hyde.
“We are so lucky to have Maria coming back to join our program. She’s done a tremendous job the last two seasons as an assistant coach for Florida State,” Smith said in a written statement. “Not many people can say they have played and coached at the highest level nationally like Maria has the last several years. I’ve been impressed observing her progress as a coach.”
While on the Seminoles staff, the team was selected to their sixth and seventh consecutive NCAA Tournaments in 2023 and 2024. Last season, the team advanced to the second round of the tournament while Vic Allen and Ellie Schoppe and the duo of Allen and Millie Bissett competed individually, in the singles and doubles Championship.
Florida State amassed a 34-20 record during Linares’ two seasons, reaching the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in 2024, and three women, Allen, Bissett and Schoppe, earned All-ACC honors.
“I think it says a lot about Maria and our program to have one of the best players to represent tennis wanting to come back and coach the team. Our players are going to benefit so much from all of her experiences,” Smith said.
During her K-State career, Linares won 77 singles and 62 doubles matches, closing out her final spring season with a 14-4 singles and 10-8 doubles records. After her senior campaign she was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central Region Most Improved Senior and the Cissie Leary Sportsmanship recipient. Her efforts on the court also earned selections to the Second Team All-Big 12 in 2021 and 2018.
In 2018 Linares was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, on the Big 12 All-Freshman team, and ITA Central Region Rookie of the Year with 20 singles matches wins.
For three seasons (2019-2022) she competed in doubles primarily with partner Karine-Marion Job, collecting a record of 34-24, the duo reached their highest ITA ranking of No. 46 during both the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.
“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to become the assistant coach of the women’s tennis team at Kansas State University,” Linares said. “I am thrilled to start working with the team, especially because K-State holds a special place in my heart. Having had the privilege to play for KSU, I now have the chance to give back to the institution that has given so much. I look forward to working alongside coach Jordan Smith and helping our athletes achieve their best both on and off the court.”
She also earned multiple academic accolades, highlighted as the 2022 Big 12 Scholar Athlete of the Year for women’s tennis. She earned the ITA Scholar-Athlete honor four times from 2019-2022 and was a four-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team member.
Linares earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from K-State in 2022 before earning her master’s degree in sports management from Florida State in 2024.
