Clarisse Baca began as Academy of Art University women's tennis head coach in January 2018.
Back in 2022-23 with nearly its entire roster from the previous season, Academy of Art women's tennis prepared with three fall competitions, opened the spring with four wins in its first five matches, battled through schedule changes, and ultimately triumphed twice at the Pacific West Conference Championship Tournament before taking seventh place overall to conclude Head Coach Clarisse Baca's sixth year at the program's helm. The
2023 ITA West Region Rookie of the Year and
All-PacWest Second Team honoree, Jessica Plazas made her dynamic debut and combined for 14 victories across singles and doubles play in addition to joining three of her teammates on the
CSC Academic All-District Team and five others on the
Academic All-PacWest Team. The Urban Knights were also recognized with
ITA West Region Community Service Award Honorable Mention.
Returning to a full year of competition beginning with play in the Fall of 2021, the 2021-22 campaign for Academy of Art women's tennis started with a pair of Urban Knights, Sofia Ragona and Yun "Nicole" Shiau, winning the
ITA West Regional Doubles Championship and qualifying for the ITA Cup, continued with a four-match win streak that saw ART U win 28 of 29 points, then concluded with the Knights reaching the third-place match in the Pacific West Conference Championship. Academy of Art defeated
No. 22 Biola along the way, garnered two
All-PacWest Team singles honors and one doubles selection, and seven
Academic All-PacWest awards.
Guiding an Academy of Art women's tennis team comprised of two sophomores and four freshmen in 2021, Baca's fourth year was highlighted by two wins over ranked teams in
No. 25 UH Hilo and
No. 24 Fresno Pacific, two PacWest Player of the Week honors, three
All-PacWest Team singles honors plus a pair of doubles selections, and five
Academic All-PacWest awards.
Despite having the season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, ART U was off to a strong start in 2020, Baca's third year at the program's helm. Wins over Holy Names, Dominican, Sonoma State, and Stanislaus State came in four of the first five matches and numerous postseason awards followed for the Urban Knights as four
Academic All-PacWest honors were bestowed and Mariacristina Andrisani garnered three ITA West Region honors including the
Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship Award, Most Improved Senior Award, and Senior Player of the Year. The squad also earned
ITA All-Academic Team for the second consecutive year.
In 2019, Baca led women's tennis to the No. 1 seed in the PacWest Championship Tournament for the first time in program history. The Urban Knights also reached their highest ranking at No. 5 in the nation and made their third straight NCAA West Regionals appearance. Three players were selected to the
ITA All-America Team and five players to the
All-PacWest Team while the squad also earned
ITA All-Academic Team with six
Academic All-PacWest honorees.
The 2018 Academy of Art women's tennis season will forever be remembered as one of the program's most historic years. With their first NCAA Nationals appearance, a national ranking as high as No. 6, and three ITA All-Americans, records were shattered at an unprecedented rate under Baca. The team went 18-6 overall, finishing second to Hawaii Pacific (then ranked No. 2) in the PacWest Conference Tournament then defeated Azusa Pacific (then ranked No. 11) in NCAA West Regionals to reach uncharted territory in the NCAA Championship Tournament. There, after sweeping Concordia (N.Y.) (then ranked No. 35), ART U made it to the Championship Quarterfinals where their season would end against eventual National Champion Barry.
After an impressive four-year playing career at Sacramento State, Baca returned to her alma mater as the acting head coach for the 2016-17 season. That year, Baca guided the Hornets to a 7-4 Big Sky record and a fourth place finish in the league. The team won seven home matches including a 6-2 home Big Sky record. Sacramento State had quality non-conference wins as well, beating San Francisco at home and earning a victory at San Diego State.
The Hornets had three players earn 2017 All-Big Sky honors, including a First Team selection for Ana Loaiza Esquivias, who was 10-1 in Big Sky matches and 17-6 overall playing at No. 1 and was named Big Sky Player of the Week four times. Under Baca, Sofia Gulnova and Sofia Wicker also each had 10-1 Big Sky singles records and made the All-Big Sky Second Team and honorable mention, respectively.
Baca had been a junior coach since graduating in 2012, starting her tennis coaching career working with kids ages 8-14 while she also served as the marketing manager of a local real estate company. She has also been an entrepreneur as she is the CEO and Co-founder of Activity Jungle, a marketplace that helps parents find children's activities.
As a Hornet herself, Baca led Sacramento State women's tennis to four straight Big Sky regular season and tournament championships as well as four berths in the NCAA Tournament. She was a four-time All-Big Sky selection and was named to the First Team three times after being a Second Team selection as a freshman. She also earned Big Sky Player of the Week three times during her career.
Baca was the team captain for three years and helped the Hornets earn a top-30 national ranking as the team's No. 4 singles player and No. 2 in doubles. She was undefeated in Big Sky dual play, contributing to the program's 112-match unbeaten streak against Big Sky opponents.
A native of Chihuahua, Mexico, Baca was a star before college as well, ranking as a top-3 junior player in Mexico and participating in several international competitions. She was recruited to play at Sacramento State after graduating from Salle Chihuahua High School in 2007.
Baca earned both her master's degree in global business and entrepreneurship and her bachelor's degree in science business administration from Sacramento State.
Head Coach, ART U
2018 - present
| Year |
Overall (Pct.) |
PacWest Finish |
| 2023 |
9-8 (.529) |
7th |
| 2022 |
10-7 (.588) |
4th |
| 2021* |
5-7 (.417) |
8th |
| 2020* |
4-3 .571) |
N/A |
| 2019 |
14-6 (.700) |
2nd |
| 2018 |
18-6 (.750) |
2nd |
| Totals |
60-37 (.618) |
|
*Years shortened due to COVID-19 pandemic
