The 2021 MEAC Coach of the Year – both men and women – Larry Holmes returns for his second season leading the Norfolk State men’s and women’s tennis programs during 2021-22 academic year after a successful debut in the spring of 2021.
Holmes joined the Spartans in January of 2021 with barely a month to prepare before the spring season got underway. He led both the men’s and women’s teams to MEAC Northern Division championships, just the second official regular season titles for both programs. He was named MEAC Coach of the Year on the women’s side and Co-Coach of the Year for the men.
Andres Alcaraz was named the MEAC Player of the Year, the third in men’s program history. He was one of four All-MEAC honorees, including first-teamer Federico Rebecchini and second-team players Ignacio Guevel and Santiago Rendon. It marked the first time since 2014 NSU had four all-conference honorees.
The Spartan men advanced to the MEAC Championship final in 2021 for the second time ever. They finished with a winning record (8-5) for just the second time in the last seven years as well. They won their first regular season title since sharing the Southern Division crown in 2013.
On the women’s side, the 2021 season brought three All-MEAC honorees: Paula Fortuno (first team) and Zoe Fraser and Laura Ruiz (second team), the most ever for NSU in one season. The Spartan women qualified for the MEAC Tournament semifinals for the first time since 2008 and posted their first winning record (8-6) since 2013.
The only other official regular season title for the women came in 2016 when they won the Northern Division.
In addition, both teams were honored by the ITA for having GPAs of 3.20 or better for the year, and 13 of the 14 active players earned ITA Scholar-Athlete honors for having individual GPAs of 3.50 or better during the 2020-21 academic year.
Before joining NSU, Holmes spent the 2019-20 season and the fall of 2020 as a volunteer assistant with the Virginia Tech women’s program. He helped them finish with a 7-7 record in the spring of 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. The program ranked as high as No. 35 in the country, and he helped the Hokies bring in the No. 13 ranked recruiting class for 2020 according to TennisRecruiting.net.
Prior to joining Virginia Tech’s staff, he spent the 2018-19 season as the interim men’s and women’s head coach at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. One of Holmes’ star pupils, Raul Rivero-Eggers, was named the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) Freshman of the Year and the ITA Rookie of the Year in the NAIA Central Region. Rivero-Eggers ranked in the top 50 in the nation at the NAIA level.
Rivero-Eggers was named first-team All-KCAC, while two of his teammates in Edward Sengai and Manuel Lopez-Videla earned honorable mention all-conference in Holmes’ lone season at Bethany.
Holmes was the head coach at Benedictine University in Tempe, Arizona, from 2014-16. He was responsible for recruiting players for Benedictine’s inaugural season in both men’s and women’s tennis.
He served as a tennis coach at University of Michigan summer tennis camps and at the Naval Academy Tennis Center. Holmes spent time as a staff professional at the Kiwanis Recreation Center in Tempe, Arizona, and most recently at the Hidden Valley Country Club in Salem, Virginia.
While in Arizona, he was the boy’s head coach at Mountain Pointe High School, where he became the first black head tennis coach at the high school level in Arizona. He led three teams to top-15 finishes in the Arizona 6A standings. More than 20 of his players advanced to the Arizona High School State Championship. Three of those players earned Region Player of Year honors. Mountain Pointe won a pair of regional titles, and Holmes was tabbed the Region Coach of the Year one time as well.
Holmes graduated from Johnson C. Smith University with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and sport management in 2004. He was a four-time first-team All-CIAA honoree in tennis and led the Golden Bulls to four straight CIAA titles. He was named the league’s Co-Rookie of the Year in 2001 and led the program during a 90-match conference win streak.
