Upcoming Event: Women's Tennis at Colorado State Invite on September 12, 2025
Women's Tennis
at Colorado State Invite
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Women's Tennis
Mortera, Ric
Ric Mortera
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- rmortera@huntsman.utah.edu
Ric Mortera coached five seasons as the head coach of the Utah women's tennis program with his final season being the 2023-24 season.Â
In his five seasons as head coach at Utah, Mortera compiled an overall record of 57-51 in dual matches, including a 10-32 record in Pac-12 Conference matches. He earned Wilson/ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year honors in 2022. The Utes finished the 2023-24 season with a 12-10 overall record, including a 3-7 mark in the Pac-12.
Mortera signed a five-year contract extension following the 2021-22 season following a 15-win season and a Top 10 recruiting class.
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Mortera signed the ninth-ranked recruiting class, rated by the Tennis Recruiting Network, as the highest ranking in program history. The Utes' incoming signing class includes the program's first Blue-Chip recruit, Kaila Barksdale. Following the 2022 season, Mortera was named Wilson/ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year.
In 2022-23, Mortera led the Utes to a 13-11 record a first place ranking in the ITA Mountain Region. The Utes recorded the most Pac-12 wins since 2015. He helped the Utes to it's first victory over Cal, when Utah came ahead 4-3. Utah also defeated #16 Washington, the hightest ranked win in the Pac-12 Era. During the 2022-23 season, he coached Marcela Lopez to the ITA Mountain Region Freshman of the Year.Â
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During the 2021-22 season, Mortera had the Utes reaching new heights. The team started a program best 9-0, which included wins over Big Ten foes Indiana and Minnesota, as well as Pac 12 opponent Washington State. The team also recorded their 13th straight victory over in-state rivals BYU. On their way to a 15 win season, the Utes defeated No. 21 USC for the first time in program history and also recorded their first Pac 12 tournament win since 2017 when they defeated Arizona 4-1 in the opening round of the conference championships. Anastasia Goncharova and Linda Huang received Pac-12 All-Conference honorable mention honors. The Utes finished as the top-ranked team in the ITA Mountain Region and placed three in the mountain region singles rankings, including the top-ranked player, Linda Huang.
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Though his first season at the helm of the program was shortened due to COVID-19 in the 2019-20 campaign, Mortera led the young Utah squad to the best start to a season since the 1983-84 season. The Utes jumped out to a 5-0 start on the year, which included a 4-3 win over Minnesota.
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Mortera led the team to finish 12-5 in dual play before the season was canceled. Utah went 8-0 against Mountain Region opponents that was highlighted by an upset over the No. 33-ranked Denver Pioneers and the program's 11th-straight victory against in-state rival BYU.
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Mortera guided Madison Tattini and Whitney Hekking to achieve a final ranking of No. 12 in the ITA/Oracle doubles poll, just missing out on All-America honors, after holding a 12-1 record to end the year. The No. 12 ranking is the highest rank by a pair of Utes in the final poll since the 1992 season.
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Hekking was named the ITA Mountain Region's Most Improved Senior after she previously played primarily at the No. 5, No. 6 singles positions, and No. 2 doubles spot before moving up to the No. 3 singles and No. 1 singles position this year. Mortera also played a crucial role in the development of Emily Dush and Anya Lamoreaux, who posted team-best 9-2 and 8-1 overall records in 2020, respectively.
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Despite not being able to finish the season, Mortera's group managed to finish the semester strong academically, breaking the all-time department team GPA in a semester. All nine student-athletes made the Athletic Director's Honor Roll, while seven made the Dean's List to combine for a school-record 3.894 team GPA.
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In the 2021 spring season, Mortera saw the Utes continue their success in Mountain Region play, finishing 7-2 on the year. Utah recorded wins over BYU (4-2), Boise State (5-2) and Weber State (5-2) to highlight the region run. Mortera pushed transfer Anastasia Goncharova in earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors with just one season at the U after she tied for a team-high eight singles wins in dual play and second-most doubles wins with eight in the spring. Madeline Lamoreaux also finished the year ranked No. 6 in singles in the Mountain Region, while Lamoreaux and Emily Dush came in ranked No. 4 in the region for doubles.
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Prior to being named the head coach in Salt Lake City, Mortera spent a year as Fresno State's women's tennis head coach where he saw the Bulldogs win nine dual matches with three student-athletes earning All-Mountain West honors. Mortera also recruited and coached Shir Azran to becoming the first player in Mountain West history to win at all six singles positions in a single season. He became Fresno State's head coach in July of 2018 after spending three successful seasons as the associate head coach at Texas Tech.
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During his time at Texas Tech, the Lady Raiders went 73-17, the best three-year winning percentage in program history (81.1) while six of his athletes captured All-Big 12 singles selections. Texas Tech made the NCAA Tournament all three years that Mortera was on staff, including back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2015 and 2016 and an Elite Eight run in 2017.
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Mortera was named Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Texas Region Assistant Coach in 2016 and 2017 with his final season (2017) being the best in program history. They finished the season ranked No. 7 in the final Oracle/ITA rankings, made their first-ever NCAA Elite Eight appearance, produced a program-high 27 wins, and won its first Big 12 regular season and tournament championships in program history. Mortera also played an integral role in the recruitment and development of Gabriela Talaba, who was Texas Tech's first Big 12 Player of the Year. He also went on to coach Talaba at the 2020/2022 French Open and the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
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Prior to his stint at Texas Tech, he was an assistant coach at Illinois (2014) and Purdue (2013), helping both teams to new heights.
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At Illinois, he saw the Fighting Illini hold a No. 45 ITA ranking, notching upsets over No. 25 TCU and No. 29 Oklahoma State with four student-athletes being honored by the Big Ten through all-academic, all-conference and sportsmanship award selections. While at Purdue, the Boilermakers reached a program-high No. 14 in the ITA ranks as they advanced to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 with a program-best 18 dual wins that season.
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Mortera got his start in collegiate coaching as a volunteer assistant at Illinois for two seasons (2011-2012), also working on the Women's Tennis Association Tour where he coached former United States Fed Cup player Alexa Glatch and 2009 Orange Bowl champion Julia Boserup. He helped Glatch reach the U.S. Open and Wimbledon main draws and helped Boserup achieve a career-high ranking of No. 174.
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The Portland, Ore., native was a four-year letter winner at Oregon. He graduated in 2010 with degrees in both economics and political science after ranking as high as No. 45 in the nation his senior season while also receiving a master's in sport management from Texas Tech in 2018.
In his five seasons as head coach at Utah, Mortera compiled an overall record of 57-51 in dual matches, including a 10-32 record in Pac-12 Conference matches. He earned Wilson/ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year honors in 2022. The Utes finished the 2023-24 season with a 12-10 overall record, including a 3-7 mark in the Pac-12.
Mortera signed a five-year contract extension following the 2021-22 season following a 15-win season and a Top 10 recruiting class.
Â
Mortera signed the ninth-ranked recruiting class, rated by the Tennis Recruiting Network, as the highest ranking in program history. The Utes' incoming signing class includes the program's first Blue-Chip recruit, Kaila Barksdale. Following the 2022 season, Mortera was named Wilson/ITA Mountain Region Coach of the Year.
In 2022-23, Mortera led the Utes to a 13-11 record a first place ranking in the ITA Mountain Region. The Utes recorded the most Pac-12 wins since 2015. He helped the Utes to it's first victory over Cal, when Utah came ahead 4-3. Utah also defeated #16 Washington, the hightest ranked win in the Pac-12 Era. During the 2022-23 season, he coached Marcela Lopez to the ITA Mountain Region Freshman of the Year.Â
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During the 2021-22 season, Mortera had the Utes reaching new heights. The team started a program best 9-0, which included wins over Big Ten foes Indiana and Minnesota, as well as Pac 12 opponent Washington State. The team also recorded their 13th straight victory over in-state rivals BYU. On their way to a 15 win season, the Utes defeated No. 21 USC for the first time in program history and also recorded their first Pac 12 tournament win since 2017 when they defeated Arizona 4-1 in the opening round of the conference championships. Anastasia Goncharova and Linda Huang received Pac-12 All-Conference honorable mention honors. The Utes finished as the top-ranked team in the ITA Mountain Region and placed three in the mountain region singles rankings, including the top-ranked player, Linda Huang.
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Though his first season at the helm of the program was shortened due to COVID-19 in the 2019-20 campaign, Mortera led the young Utah squad to the best start to a season since the 1983-84 season. The Utes jumped out to a 5-0 start on the year, which included a 4-3 win over Minnesota.
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Mortera led the team to finish 12-5 in dual play before the season was canceled. Utah went 8-0 against Mountain Region opponents that was highlighted by an upset over the No. 33-ranked Denver Pioneers and the program's 11th-straight victory against in-state rival BYU.
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Mortera guided Madison Tattini and Whitney Hekking to achieve a final ranking of No. 12 in the ITA/Oracle doubles poll, just missing out on All-America honors, after holding a 12-1 record to end the year. The No. 12 ranking is the highest rank by a pair of Utes in the final poll since the 1992 season.
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Hekking was named the ITA Mountain Region's Most Improved Senior after she previously played primarily at the No. 5, No. 6 singles positions, and No. 2 doubles spot before moving up to the No. 3 singles and No. 1 singles position this year. Mortera also played a crucial role in the development of Emily Dush and Anya Lamoreaux, who posted team-best 9-2 and 8-1 overall records in 2020, respectively.
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Despite not being able to finish the season, Mortera's group managed to finish the semester strong academically, breaking the all-time department team GPA in a semester. All nine student-athletes made the Athletic Director's Honor Roll, while seven made the Dean's List to combine for a school-record 3.894 team GPA.
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In the 2021 spring season, Mortera saw the Utes continue their success in Mountain Region play, finishing 7-2 on the year. Utah recorded wins over BYU (4-2), Boise State (5-2) and Weber State (5-2) to highlight the region run. Mortera pushed transfer Anastasia Goncharova in earning All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors with just one season at the U after she tied for a team-high eight singles wins in dual play and second-most doubles wins with eight in the spring. Madeline Lamoreaux also finished the year ranked No. 6 in singles in the Mountain Region, while Lamoreaux and Emily Dush came in ranked No. 4 in the region for doubles.
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Prior to being named the head coach in Salt Lake City, Mortera spent a year as Fresno State's women's tennis head coach where he saw the Bulldogs win nine dual matches with three student-athletes earning All-Mountain West honors. Mortera also recruited and coached Shir Azran to becoming the first player in Mountain West history to win at all six singles positions in a single season. He became Fresno State's head coach in July of 2018 after spending three successful seasons as the associate head coach at Texas Tech.
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During his time at Texas Tech, the Lady Raiders went 73-17, the best three-year winning percentage in program history (81.1) while six of his athletes captured All-Big 12 singles selections. Texas Tech made the NCAA Tournament all three years that Mortera was on staff, including back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2015 and 2016 and an Elite Eight run in 2017.
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Mortera was named Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Texas Region Assistant Coach in 2016 and 2017 with his final season (2017) being the best in program history. They finished the season ranked No. 7 in the final Oracle/ITA rankings, made their first-ever NCAA Elite Eight appearance, produced a program-high 27 wins, and won its first Big 12 regular season and tournament championships in program history. Mortera also played an integral role in the recruitment and development of Gabriela Talaba, who was Texas Tech's first Big 12 Player of the Year. He also went on to coach Talaba at the 2020/2022 French Open and the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
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Prior to his stint at Texas Tech, he was an assistant coach at Illinois (2014) and Purdue (2013), helping both teams to new heights.
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At Illinois, he saw the Fighting Illini hold a No. 45 ITA ranking, notching upsets over No. 25 TCU and No. 29 Oklahoma State with four student-athletes being honored by the Big Ten through all-academic, all-conference and sportsmanship award selections. While at Purdue, the Boilermakers reached a program-high No. 14 in the ITA ranks as they advanced to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 with a program-best 18 dual wins that season.
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Mortera got his start in collegiate coaching as a volunteer assistant at Illinois for two seasons (2011-2012), also working on the Women's Tennis Association Tour where he coached former United States Fed Cup player Alexa Glatch and 2009 Orange Bowl champion Julia Boserup. He helped Glatch reach the U.S. Open and Wimbledon main draws and helped Boserup achieve a career-high ranking of No. 174.
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The Portland, Ore., native was a four-year letter winner at Oregon. He graduated in 2010 with degrees in both economics and political science after ranking as high as No. 45 in the nation his senior season while also receiving a master's in sport management from Texas Tech in 2018.
Role models. Trailblazers. Legends. Celebrating our #AAPI student-athletes this month and always.
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