NORFOLK, Va. – Darryl Cummings, who coached the tennis programs at Old Dominion from 1992-2011, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday night at the age of 59. He coached in this area for nearly 25 years winning over 600 matches in his career at Old Dominion, Norfolk State and Virginia Wesleyan.
"The news of Coach Cummings' death is absolutely devastating for all of us at ODU. Darryl has meant so much to ODU tennis with his vision for the world class Folkes Stevens Tennis Center and his tireless efforts as our head Men's and Women's tennis coach for 20 years," ODU Director of Athletics Dr. Wood Selig said. "Coach Cummings was a tremendous ambassador for ODU, ODU athletics, and ODU tennis. His energy, support and enthusiasm each and every day for our programs, coaches and student-athletes will be greatly missed. Our hearts and support go out to his family at this time."
Cummings served as the head coach of the Old Dominion women's tennis team for 20 years from 1992-2011, including the last 17 seasons as the head coach of the men's team as well.
He had a very successful run at ODU, where he was a six-time Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Coach of the Year. Cummings coached 14 CAA Players of the Year, four Rookies of the Year, six All-Americans and more than 40 Academic All-Americans. His former Monarch players went on to compete in events such as the Davis Cup, Federation Cup and the Olympics.
Two of his former pupils, Tzipora Obziler and Izak van der Merwe, competed in the main draw of Wimbledon in 2008. Obziler, who once ranked No. 1 in the nation in NCAA Division I and won the 1995 ITA National Clay Court Championship, reached a world ranking of No. 75 in 2007. Van der Merwe, a three-time All-American at ODU, stood as high as No. 113 in the world rankings in 2011.
Cummings had a total of 20 NCAA qualifiers during his time at ODU, including two teams, seven doubles tandems and 11 singles entrants.
Cummings was named the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) Virginia Coach of the Year in 1994 and '96 and the USPTA Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year in 1993 and '89, the latter during a one-year stint as the men's coach at Virginia Wesleyan. He also garnered the women's East Region Coach of the Year Award in 2001 when he led the Monarch women to as high as No. 35 in the national rankings, a program best.
That same year, Nataly Cahana won the first of four CAA Player of the Year awards. She ranked as high as No. 8 in the nation in singles while also winning the 2001 CAA Rookie of the Year, CAA Tournament MVP and CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards. She earned All-America status that year as a freshman and then again as a sophomore in 2002. She was also an Academic All-American three straight seasons from 2002-04. Cahana ranked in the top 35 in the nation all four years.
The ODU women finished 21-2 in 2001, their first-ever 20-win season, and won the CAA title for the first time ever. Leading the Monarchs to their first and only NCAA Tournament, Cummings was rewarded with the CAA Coach of the Year Award in 2001 after also taking home the honor in 1993 and '94. ODU went 18-6 overall in '94, one of four seasons ever for the Monarchs with 18 or more wins.
Cummings was named Coach of the Year on the men's side in 1999, 2005 and '07, becoming the first of two coaches in the league ever to win the award for both genders. He led the ODU men to seven runner-up finishes in the CAA Tournament between 1996 and 2007.
He compiled a 563-353 record during his time at ODU, including 286 wins on the men's side and 277 as the women's head coach.
Van der Merwe was an All-American in singles in 2004 and '05 and also teamed up with Zoltan Csanadi to earn All-America honors in doubles in 2004. The duo also advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2003 and ranked as high as No. 13 that year and No. 14 in 2004.
Van der Merwe was named CAA Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons in 2004 and '05 and CAA Tournament MVP in '04. In singles, he ranked in the top 25 in the nation in 2004 and '05, the highest ranking ever by an ODU men's player.
Van der Merwe (South Africa) joined Cahana and Obziler (Israel) and former Cummings pupils Robert Hale (Jamaica), Patrick Boza (Peru) and Farhad Tadayon (Iran) in competing in the Davis or Federation Cups.
In addition to Cahana and Van der Merwe, Cummings coached CAA Players of the Year Delphine Priest (1994), Nadine Fahoum (2010) and Joanna Dobrowolska (2011) on the women's side, and Miguel Rosa (1995), Harel Srugo (2006, '07), Aleksandr Seleznev (2009) and Tobias Fanselow (2011) in men's tennis.
Fahoum also won the CAA Rookie of the Year Award in 2008, and in 2010 she ranked as high as No. 20 nationally. Along with Cahana, a four-time NCAA qualifier, Fahoum also advanced to the tournament in singles in 2010. She competed in the NCAA Tournament in doubles in 2009 with Charleen Haarhoff and in '10 with Dobrowolska.
Srugo (2006) and Mily Kannarkat (1999) were named CAA Tournament MVPs in their respective years. Srugo later led the Monarch men to a win over Virginia Tech in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, ODU's first and only championship appearance.
As a team, the Monarchs ranked as high as No. 31 that year, the highest for any men's team under Cummings. Srugo reached the top 30 in the national rankings both in 2006 and '07, and he and Henrique Cancado stood No. 13 in the nation in doubles in 2007.
He graduated from Old Dominion and played all four years for coach Ken Rand. Cummings was a member of the 1986 ODU team that set a school record for the most wins in a season going 20-3. He was a doubles champion in the Sun Belt also in 1986.
ODU Mourns The Passing Of Former Tennis Coach Darryl Cummings
