Veteran coach John Ware begins his 26th season with the women's tennis program in 2025-26 and has helped guide the Seahawks to appearances in the CAA championship matches in 2017 and 2023.
Ware, who served as interim head coach during the 2014-15 campaign, arrived in 2000 and has now worked under Jenny Garrity, Evan Clark and Hans Olsen. He was named Associate Head Coach in 2022.
During Ware's tenure with the Seahawks, UNCW has placed more than 50 players on all-conference squads in the Coastal Athletic Association, including former standouts Lindsey Hess and Christina Lee, who were honored on five different occasions by the CAA's coaches.
With the late-summer departure of Clark to Illinois, Ware headed up the program in 2014-15 and led the Seahawks to a 9-9 finish. Senior Alyssa Ritchie was selected to the Capital One Academic All-District 3 Women's At-Large Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and honored by the CAA as the league's Women's Tennis Scholar Athlete-of-the-Year for 2014-15.
Ritchie was also one of two nominees from the CAA for the NCAA's prestigious Woman-of-the-Year Award.
The Seahawks enjoyed a spectacular season in 2014 that saw the team capture the school’s first conference title and earn the league's automatic NCAA berth. UNCW compiled a sparkling 17-4 record in 2013-14 and nailed down the No. 1 seed at the CAA Tournament for the first time. The Seahawks defeated Charleston, 4-3, for the school’s first women’s crown.
Senior Angie Sekely earned 2014 CAA Player-of-the-Year honors, and five Seahawks collected All-CAA recognition.
In 2012-13, six different players earned All-CAA honors as the Seahawks went 14-7 and advanced to the championship match of the CAA Tournament for the first time.
In 2011-12, the Seahawks reached the semifinals of the CAA championship tournament for the fourth time since Ware's arrival. UNCW also knocked off 38th-ranked Georgia State early in the season, the program's top win against a ranked team. The win propelled the Seahawks into the national rankings at 67th, matching the program's previous high mark set in 2010-11.
The Athens, Ga., native began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant coach with the Kentucky Wildcats in 1999-00 and was involved with all aspects of the UK program before moving to Wilmington.
Ware completed his Bachelor's Degree in Finance from Georgia in 1995. He also earned a degree in Liberal Studies from UNCW in 2011.
