Avery Zavala is headed to Austin.
Texas Women’s Tennis announced Wednesday that the former Texas A&M-Corpus Christi assistant coach and player will join Howard Joffe’s staff as an assistant coach. Zavala arrives after two seasons working with both the Islanders’ women’s and men’s programs, and he brings a résumé built on success as both a coach and competitor.
Joffe made clear how strongly he feels about the hire.
"Over two decades into my coaching career, I'm jubilant about our hiring of Avery Zavala," Joffe said. "He is a really accomplished tennis standout and coach, but he is also super intelligent, driven, principled, kind and motivated. I'm even more excited for our young team to have the opportunity to learn and profit from Avery."
Zavala said the move to Texas carries special meaning.
"I'm incredibly grateful and excited for the opportunity to join the Texas Women's Tennis program," Zavala said. "The tradition, culture, and standard of excellence at Texas are second to none, and I'm looking forward to contributing to the continued success of this program. It's an honor to represent the Burnt Orange, and I'm proud to be part of such a special culture."
At Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Zavala helped guide a stretch of strong results. In his first season, both Islander teams won Southland Conference regular season titles. The women finished 25-3 overall and 8-1 in league play, while the men went 21-5 overall and were perfect at 5-0 in conference.
The next year, the women were 18-5 overall and 6-3 in the Southland before reaching the conference tournament final. The men finished 17-5 overall and 3-2 in conference, then won the Southland Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where they played Texas in the first round in Austin.
Zavala also brings a strong playing background. Over two seasons with the Islanders, he competed at No. 1 in both singles and doubles.
He was a two-time All-Conference First Team pick at No. 1 doubles, including the moment he clinched the doubles point in the 2023 conference tournament final to help Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beat 4-3 and secure the league’s automatic NCAA bid. That season, he entered the NCAA Tournament riding an 11-match winning streak in doubles.
As a senior, Zavala earned All-Conference Second Team honors at No. 1 singles after going 11-7 overall and 3-1 in conference, which matched the league’s best record at that spot. He went unbeaten in doubles during the conference schedule that year. In all, he finished his Islanders career with a 29-11 doubles record and 26-16 singles record.
Before Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Zavala spent two seasons at Arkansas, where he posted a 6-2 dual record in singles. His wins came against Alabama, Kentucky, Omaha, Oral Roberts and Saint Louis, and he also earned SEC All-Academic honors with the Razorbacks.
After college, Zavala played on the ATP professional tour and found success in several doubles tournaments.
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