PINEVILLE, La. – Brett Bridel, a veteran coach with more 20 years of experience, more than 400 career wins to his credit, two junior college team national championships, an individual national championship, and multiple conference championships ranging from junior college to NCAA Division II, has been named the Louisiana Christian University women's tennis head coach.
 
"First, I want to thank the Lord for this opportunity," said Bridel. "I am grateful to Coach[es] [Reni] Mason and [Brittany] Salloum for trusting in me and welcoming me into the Louisiana Christian University family. I am honored and eager to represent the Wildcats as the women's tennis coach and to serve the tennis student-athletes on their college journey."
 
"We are so excited to have Brett as a part of our family," said Louisiana Christian Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics, Reni Mason. "He is passionate and consistent in his day-to-day approach to our God, our student-athletes, and our institution. I look forward to watching our tennis program continue to rise."
 
Bridel comes to Louisiana Christian from Tucson, Ari. where he was serving as an assistant women's hockey coach at the University of Arizona and the head girl's tennis coach at Sabino High School.
 
His most recent college experience in tennis came at Seward Community College in Kansas in 2023-24 where he coached both the men's and women's tennis teams to top 10 finishes in the NJCAA National Championship Tournament in 2024 while the women's team also had a top 10 finish in 2023. In 2023, he also coached one of his women's team members to an individual national championship.
 
Prior to that, he spent 13 seasons at Lewis University in Illinois where he was a four-time Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Women's Tennis Coach of the Year and was named Midwest Region Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) in 2012. While head coach of both Flyers teams, he led the men to the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament six times and the women's teams to five Nationals appearances with two Top 16 finishes. He coached the women's team to two other GLVC Finals appearances and the men to one appearance in the Conference Championship Match.
 
Bridel got his head coaching start in 2002 at the College of DuPage in Illinois and had immediate success, leading the Chaparrals men to undefeated seasons and NJCAA national championships in 2003 and 2004 while also guiding the CoD women's team to the National Tournament Final in 2004. For his efforts, he was named the Men's National and Regional Coach of the Year in both 2003 and 2004.
 
He got his coaching start as an assistant women's tennis coach at Florida State and became a student assistant for the women's team when he moved over to the University of Alabama, where he earned his Bachelor's of Science in Education.
 
"The team has been an absolute joy and I look forward to building strong, healthy relationships, setting high standards, and working together to grow in all aspects. I am driven to continue building the tennis program from the solid foundation that former coach [Alexandra] Starkova has built."