Ellie Edles Williams Returns to Cal Poly to Lead Women's Tennis Program
6/29/2022 9:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — A familiar face is returning to Cal Poly to lead the women's tennis program.
Director of Athletics Don Oberhelman announced Wednesday the hiring of Ellie Edles Williams, who was an assistant and associate head coach at Cal Poly during a pair of prior stints, as the next head coach of the Mustangs' women's tennis team.
Williams served as an assistant coach at Cal Poly from 2019-20 prior to being promoted to associate head coach in January 2020. Williams was also an assistant coach for the Mustangs in the 2013-14 season.
"We are so pleased to bring Ellie back to Cal Poly," Oberhelman said. "She has been in the Mustang Family as an assistant coach for a long time and is entrenched in the California tennis community. Our student-athletes and staff are thrilled she has returned to become our head coach."
Last August, Williams took on the interim head coaching duties at Cal State Fullerton for the 2021-22 season and led the Titans to a 16-8 record and a berth in the Big West Tournament semifinals. The team finished the season ranked No. 75 in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll.
Williams already lives in the San Luis Obispo area with her husband, Scott Williams, who is the associate head coach for the Cal Poly women's soccer team. Last season, Williams commuted back and forth to Fullerton to coach the Titans.
Williams said she feels extremely fortunate that this position opened up and she gets to be a lot closer to home.
"This is an amazing opportunity," Williams said. "I know this program very well having been a big part of the recruiting process for a lot of the current players on the team, so I feel like I have a leg up in a lot of ways joining the program again."
Williams replaces seven-year head coach Kat Winterhalter, who left Cal Poly a month ago to accept the same position at Saint Mary's. Williams has a tremendous amount of respect for the impact Winterhalter had at Cal Poly and she hopes to continue that success while also forming her own vision for the program.
"I think Kat did a phenomenal job with the program and I feel really lucky to have been able to see her vision and the execution of it firsthand," Williams said. "I believe I can combine my personal philosophy and values with the existing strong culture that has been established in these last few years."
Williams thanked Oberhelman and the rest of the search committee for providing her with the opportunity to take over a program so familiar to her, adding that it's a dream come true. She is also grateful to Cal State Fullerton for giving her a chance to grow this past season.
"Cal Poly is such a unique institution as far as where its located and how strong it is athletically and academically," she said. "I really see it continuing to be the powerhouse its been in the Big West Conference with even more room to grow nationally."
Following her first coaching stint at Cal Poly, Williams spent the 2015-16 season as an assistant coach at Middlebury College in Vermont, helping the Panthers reach the semifinals of the NCAA Division III Tournament and earn a No. 3 national ranking by the ITA.
From 2016-18, Williams was an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton. In her first season with the program, the Titans achieved a school-record winning percentage of .826 and secured 11 straight victories to start the year, the longest winning streak in program history. In 2017-18, the team advanced to the Big West Tournament championship match.
"With the upward trajectory of this program and all of our recent success," Oberhelman said, "it just made sense to bring Ellie back to Cal Poly since she has been an integral part of why this program is successful."
Williams, a 2013 UC Davis graduate, played for the Aggies' women's tennis team (2009-13) prior to earning her bachelor's degree in human development. She also received a master's degree in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University of Irvine.
In addition to coaching collegiately, Williams has taught at San Luis Obispo Country Club for a number of years, coached at Orangetheory Fitness and earned her personal training certificate.
Williams' father, Mike Edles, spent 20 years as the head coach of the UC Irvine women's tennis program.
"I'm extremely thrilled and excited to just get going," Williams said. "It's been an interesting time for the program to change hands and I know the girls on the team are itching to see what's next for the program and for their futures, so I think it's time to get back to work."
