Women's Tennis
Ascher, Steve
Steve Ascher
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- steven.ascher@mso.umt.edu
- Phone:
- 370-9436
The 2015-16 season is Steve Ascher’s eighth year as head women’s tennis coach at the University of Montana. The two-time Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year was hired in the summer of 2008.
Ascher was asked to take a team that had had limited success over the years and build a Big Sky Conference champion. Ascher and the Grizzlies accomplished that goal in 2014 when they won the first regular-season league title in program history.
The championship capped a steady rise up the Big Sky standings, from a tie for fourth in Ascher’s first year to third-place finishes in 2010, ’11 and ’12.
Montana finished second behind league heavyweight Sacramento State in 2013, then ended the Hornets’ 112-match league winning streak in 2014 on its way to a perfect 9-0 conference record.
It marked the first time since the Big Sky began a round-robin schedule in 2004 that a team other than Sac State had won the regular-season title.
In the last six seasons under Ascher, Montana has finished third or higher in the regular-season Big Sky standings and three times has advanced to the Big Sky tournament championship match.
Montana earned a No. 10 ranking in the ITA Mountain Region following the 2013 season, and Ascher has coached players to six ITA singles and seven ITA doubles rankings.
Haley Driver was voted the 2014 Big Sky MVP, the first non-Sacramento State player since 2002 to win the award, and Ascher’s players have earned first-team All-Big Sky honors 13 times and second-team accolades four times.
The team’s success on the court has been matched its success in the classroom. Montana has posted a semester GPA of 3.0 or better 13 times in 14 semesters with Ascher as coach and has eight times had a 3.3 GPA or better.
The Grizzlies have earned the ITA All-Academic team award four times under Ascher, in 2009, ‘11, ‘13 and ’14, and have had 22 ITA Scholar Athletes and 25 Academic All-Big Sky Conference selections.
Maddy Murray was named Montana’s Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete in 2014 and was one of 12 national winners of the 2014 ITA Arthur Ashe Jr. Sportsmanship and Leadership Award. Sasha Carter received the Big Sky Scholar-Athlete award in 2015.
Prior to taking the job at Montana, Ascher spent two years at Portland State, where he coached both the men’s and women’s teams. Ascher was hired by PSU in the summer of 2006 to rebuild a Viking tennis program that had been eliminated for budget purposes in 2002.
Born and raised in Portland, Ascher played collegiately at the University of Portland, from which he graduated with a degree in psychology in 1996.
After starting his coaching career as an assistant with the Pilots in 1997-98, Ascher moved on to assistant coaching positions at Millersville (Pa.) (1998-2000) and Davidson (N.C.) (2000-01).
The women’s program at Millersville advanced to the round of 16 at both the 1999 and 2000 NCAA Division II national tournaments.
Ascher returned to the Pacific Northwest after one season at Davidson, once again taking an assistant position at Portland.
Ascher, who earned a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Millersville in 2003, worked as a school psychologist for the Portland Public School District for two years (2004-06) before restarting the Portland State program.
Ascher and his wife, Shelbi, have two daughters, Adalynn and Eliza. Shelbi played collegiate soccer for UC San Diego from 1995 to 1998 and was part of three NCAA Division III national championship teams.
Montana Under Ascher
2008-09 ... 8-13 (4-4 Big Sky, t-fourth)
2009-10 ... 10-12 (6-2 Big Sky, third)
2010-11 ... 11-12 (6-2 Big Sky, third)
2011-12 ... 14-8 (6-2 Big Sky, third)
2012-13 ... 15-8 (9-1 Big Sky, second)
2013-14 ... 16-8 (9-0 Big Sky, first)
2014-15 ... 12-11 (9-2 Big Sky, third)
ITA Mountain Region Selections Under Ascher
January 2011: Amanda Bran (No. 19 singles); Rebecca Bran/Whitney Paluch (No. 10 doubles)
June 2011: Rebecca Bran/Whitney Paluch (No. 9 doubles)
January 2012: Heather Davidson/Laurence Pelchat (No. 3 doubles)
January 2013: Haley Driver (No. 18 singles); Heather Davidson/Laurence Pelchat (No. 10 doubles)
June 2013: Montana (No. 10 team); Heather Davidson/Laurence Pelchat (No. 10 doubles)
January 2014: Precious Gbadamosi (No. 13 singles)
June 2014: Haley Driver (No. 15 singles); Driver/Precious Gbadamosi (No. 10 doubles)
January 2015: Sasha Carter (No. 5 singles); Precious Gbadamosi/Laurence Pelchat (No. 7 doubles)
Ascher’s Coaching Resume
1997-98 ... Assistant, University of Portland
1998-2000 ... Assistant, Millersville University
2000-01 ... Assistant, Davidson College
2001-04 ... Assistant, University of Portland
2006-08 ... Head coach, Portland State University
2008-present ... Head coach, University of Montana
Ascher was asked to take a team that had had limited success over the years and build a Big Sky Conference champion. Ascher and the Grizzlies accomplished that goal in 2014 when they won the first regular-season league title in program history.
The championship capped a steady rise up the Big Sky standings, from a tie for fourth in Ascher’s first year to third-place finishes in 2010, ’11 and ’12.
Montana finished second behind league heavyweight Sacramento State in 2013, then ended the Hornets’ 112-match league winning streak in 2014 on its way to a perfect 9-0 conference record.
It marked the first time since the Big Sky began a round-robin schedule in 2004 that a team other than Sac State had won the regular-season title.
In the last six seasons under Ascher, Montana has finished third or higher in the regular-season Big Sky standings and three times has advanced to the Big Sky tournament championship match.
Montana earned a No. 10 ranking in the ITA Mountain Region following the 2013 season, and Ascher has coached players to six ITA singles and seven ITA doubles rankings.
Haley Driver was voted the 2014 Big Sky MVP, the first non-Sacramento State player since 2002 to win the award, and Ascher’s players have earned first-team All-Big Sky honors 13 times and second-team accolades four times.
The team’s success on the court has been matched its success in the classroom. Montana has posted a semester GPA of 3.0 or better 13 times in 14 semesters with Ascher as coach and has eight times had a 3.3 GPA or better.
The Grizzlies have earned the ITA All-Academic team award four times under Ascher, in 2009, ‘11, ‘13 and ’14, and have had 22 ITA Scholar Athletes and 25 Academic All-Big Sky Conference selections.
Maddy Murray was named Montana’s Big Sky Conference Scholar-Athlete in 2014 and was one of 12 national winners of the 2014 ITA Arthur Ashe Jr. Sportsmanship and Leadership Award. Sasha Carter received the Big Sky Scholar-Athlete award in 2015.
Prior to taking the job at Montana, Ascher spent two years at Portland State, where he coached both the men’s and women’s teams. Ascher was hired by PSU in the summer of 2006 to rebuild a Viking tennis program that had been eliminated for budget purposes in 2002.
Born and raised in Portland, Ascher played collegiately at the University of Portland, from which he graduated with a degree in psychology in 1996.
After starting his coaching career as an assistant with the Pilots in 1997-98, Ascher moved on to assistant coaching positions at Millersville (Pa.) (1998-2000) and Davidson (N.C.) (2000-01).
The women’s program at Millersville advanced to the round of 16 at both the 1999 and 2000 NCAA Division II national tournaments.
Ascher returned to the Pacific Northwest after one season at Davidson, once again taking an assistant position at Portland.
Ascher, who earned a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Millersville in 2003, worked as a school psychologist for the Portland Public School District for two years (2004-06) before restarting the Portland State program.
Ascher and his wife, Shelbi, have two daughters, Adalynn and Eliza. Shelbi played collegiate soccer for UC San Diego from 1995 to 1998 and was part of three NCAA Division III national championship teams.
Montana Under Ascher
2008-09 ... 8-13 (4-4 Big Sky, t-fourth)
2009-10 ... 10-12 (6-2 Big Sky, third)
2010-11 ... 11-12 (6-2 Big Sky, third)
2011-12 ... 14-8 (6-2 Big Sky, third)
2012-13 ... 15-8 (9-1 Big Sky, second)
2013-14 ... 16-8 (9-0 Big Sky, first)
2014-15 ... 12-11 (9-2 Big Sky, third)
ITA Mountain Region Selections Under Ascher
January 2011: Amanda Bran (No. 19 singles); Rebecca Bran/Whitney Paluch (No. 10 doubles)
June 2011: Rebecca Bran/Whitney Paluch (No. 9 doubles)
January 2012: Heather Davidson/Laurence Pelchat (No. 3 doubles)
January 2013: Haley Driver (No. 18 singles); Heather Davidson/Laurence Pelchat (No. 10 doubles)
June 2013: Montana (No. 10 team); Heather Davidson/Laurence Pelchat (No. 10 doubles)
January 2014: Precious Gbadamosi (No. 13 singles)
June 2014: Haley Driver (No. 15 singles); Driver/Precious Gbadamosi (No. 10 doubles)
January 2015: Sasha Carter (No. 5 singles); Precious Gbadamosi/Laurence Pelchat (No. 7 doubles)
Ascher’s Coaching Resume
1997-98 ... Assistant, University of Portland
1998-2000 ... Assistant, Millersville University
2000-01 ... Assistant, Davidson College
2001-04 ... Assistant, University of Portland
2006-08 ... Head coach, Portland State University
2008-present ... Head coach, University of Montana
Griz vs Idaho Highlights
Monday, September 29
Griz TV Live Stream
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Montana vs Idaho Highlights
Sunday, September 28
Griz Volleyball Press Conference - 9/22/25
Tuesday, September 23
