Steve Ascher Position: Head Coach

The 2011-12 season is Steve Ascher's fourth year as head women's tennis coach at the University of Montana. Hired in the summer of 2008, Ascher's vision for his program and energy and enthusiasm have created a team that is on the rise within the Big Sky Conference.

Ascher has led the Grizzlies to the Big Sky tournament his first three seasons, the last two despite the tournament downsizing from six to just four teams.

Montana earned the tournament's No. 6 seed in Ascher's first season, then earned No. 3 seeds at the 2010 and 2011 tournaments after finishing with back-to-back 6-2 league records. The No. 3 seeds were the team's best tournament ranking since 2002.

The appearances extended the Grizzlies' streak to 22 straight tournaments.

Ascher's recruiting efforts and in-season development have produced regional rankings and Big Sky Conference accolades.

Rebecca Bran and Whitney Paluch ranked 10th in doubles in the ITA Mountain Region and Amanda Bran ranked 19th in singles after the 2010 fall season.

After going 11-11 at No. 1 doubles during a challenging spring 2011 schedule, Bran and Paluch improved to No. 9.

Ascher has also developed a first-team All-Big Sky Conference performer in each of his three seasons, a three-year run of first-team selections that hadn't happened since 1999 to 2001.

Liz Walker earned first-team honors in 2009, and Constance Alexander and Heather Davidson picked up first-team accolades in 2010.

This past spring, Rebecca Bran was a first-team selection, Paluch second team and Alexander honorable mention.

Ascher's teams have also been high-achievers academically.

His teams have produced 10 Academic All-Big Sky Conference selections, and his first team won the 2009 Athletic Directors' Award, which is presented each spring at the Lindsay Honors Banquet to the program that registered the highest grade point average over the previous spring and fall semesters.

Ascher's teams have posted a 3.20 GPA or better in five of his six semesters.

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.

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 at Montana
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)