Northwestern State University of Louisiana Women's Tennis

Following a successful two-year stint as the Northwestern State tennis assistant coach, Marcos Morelli was promoted to head coach in August 2023. Since taking over the head coaching job in 2023, Morelli has recorded a 33-25 record overall, with an 18-7 record in Southland Conference play, while making it to the second round of the SLC Tennis tournament all three years. In time time span, Morelli was named Southland Conference Coach of the Year in 2025, while coaching up players who have made their way into NSU history and with others joining those books in the upcoming years. In his third season with Northwestern State, Morelli continued his success dating back to his second year. Morelli led the Demons to a 12-8 record with a 7-2 record in Southland play, good for second in the SLC. Due to their success, the Demons recorded the second seed in the tournament in Beaumont. Their first round matchup was against seventh seeded UTRGV, where the Demons won 4-1.  The following round, the Demons were eliminated by Corpus Christi 4-0, ending their season. Despite the results, Morelli nurtured an upperclass that led the way with young stars emerging. Sofi Garcia, who followed Morelli from Argentina to NSU, put herself in NSU history with her play all four years, while Martina Acebedo Bonocore, also from Argentina, won Southland Conference Freshman of the Year following her first season. Acebedo was the first to win Freshman of the Year for NSU since 2012 (Tatiana Larina). In just his second season at the helm, Morelli guided Northwestern State to an 8-1 Southland Conference record and the 2024 SLC regular-season championship, earning Southland Conference Coach of the Year honors. Under his leadership, the Lady Demons notched their best league finish since 2022, establishing themselves as one of the conference’s top programs.  He assisted with on-court coaching, helping lead the Lady Demons to a conference championship in 2022. In his first season, Morelli, who came to NSU in the fall of 2021, was a vital part in guiding the Lady Demons to their first Southland Conference regular season championship since 2014. During his two seasons as the assistant, he helped lead the Lady Demons to a 28-14 mark and trips to the Southland Conference Tournament semifinals in each season. In his first season with the Lady Demons, Morelli oversaw the No. 5 and No. 6 singles spots as an in-match coach, helping Viktorie Wojcikova earn an All-Southland Conference First Team selection, as she posted a 6-0 league record in singles and 15-3 overall in both doubles and singles. In addition to in-match coaching at No. 5 and 6 singles, he assisted in practice planning as the assistant with NSU. During the summer in 2022 and 2023, Morelli worked at the Metropolis Country Club as the head tennis professional, where he ran tennis clinics and held private and semi-private lessons to kids and adults. Morelli also assisted in club events, such as open tennis or Pro-Ams. Previously, Morelli coached at the middle and high school levels in Buenos Aires, Argentina, coaching players from 12-18 years old. He also worked at the Las Liebres Country Club in his home country of Argentina with high-level youth players. While coaching, he also worked at HSBC from 2018-21. Morelli earned an undergraduate economics degree and a postgraduate macroeconomics degree from Universidad Catolica Argentina. He earned a masters in sports administration at NSU.  

One of the most successful tennis coaches in Southland Conference history, Patric DuBois  added the title of deputy athletic director for Special Projects to his resume in June 2021 while continuing in his role as the director of NSU’s Dr. Randall J. Webb Wellness, Activity and Recreation Center (WRAC). DuBois is no stranger to wearing multiple hats as he was formerly NSU’s head tennis coach/director of wellness & recreation/assistant athletic director for special projects. In his newest role, DuBois’ duties will include overseeing internal operations in the athletic department including facilities & event management, strength & conditioning, equipment operations, and student athlete development. DuBois will continue to assist and be a liaison with the Lady Demon tennis program.       DuBois was instrumental in transitioning an intramural program in 2005 into a department, adding wellness, fitness, club sports, e-sports, and informal recreation, to create one of the strongest collegiate recreation departments in the state of Louisiana. In 2005, renovations were completed to open the Randall J. Webb Wellness & Recreation Center to house this programming. The facility doubled in size to the current 90,000 square feet. In his role as assistant athletic director, DuBois assisted in several projects to enhance various areas in Prather Coliseum, Athletic Field House, and all outdoor facilities in the NSU athletic footprint. DuBois has played a prominent role in the execution of the biannual Athletic Scholarship Auction which has helped raise funds to assist fully funding athletic scholarships for deserving Division I athletes.  DuBois is one of the most successful tennis coaches in Southland Conference history and has a track record of developing nationally competitive teams and players who succeed on the court and in the classroom. As NSU’s head coach from 1989-94, 2006-2014 and 2018-20, he led the Lady Demons to a combined three Southland Conference Tournament titles, five regular season titles and two NCAA Tournament appearances. As an assistant coach in 2022, NSU won the SLC regular season title and went 15-5 overall and made the SLC Tournament once again in 2023. In 26 seasons of collegiate head coaching, DuBois led Northwestern State and Texas-Arlington (1995-2003) to 13 Southland Conference regular season titles, 11 Southland Conference Tournament titles, and nine NCAA Tournament appearances. His career record sits at 425-240, including a staggering 206-52 mark in Southland Conference play. Before he stepped down, he was 20th in career wins nationally among all active Division I women’s tennis coaches. DuBois began his coaching career at NSU in 1989. The Lady Demons consistently improved in the standings each year, always in the top 4 teams of the SLC before winning the SLC Championship in 1994.     Moving to UTA, he took over a men’s program which had never won a SLC title but went on to win six Southland Conference regular season titles, five Southland Conference Tournament Championship titles, and make five NCAA Tournament appearances. DuBois was named Director of Tennis in 1997, taking on additional head coaching duties for the UTA women’s program. In his third season in that capacity, the UTA women launched a 46-match winning streak in conference play, winning four SLC Regular season titles, four SLC Tournament championships, and making three NCAA appearances. He coached Andy Leber, who was the NCAA Division I Senior Male National Player of the Year in 2002. Leber had a singles record of 44-3, was an NCAA All-American, and was ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation in Division I singles. DuBois returned to NSU in 2003 as director of the Wellness & Recreation Center and started his second stint as head coach for the 2006-2007 season. DuBois knocked the rust off the NSU tennis program, guiding NSU to a 10-10 mark in his first year after the Lady Demons had just one winning season from 1999-2006 with no championships. The Lady Demons won the SLC regular season and conference titles in 2010, starting a string of five total titles in four different seasons with three NCAA Tournament appearances. The 2010 team recorded a program records in wins (20, 20-2) and winning percentage (.909), earning the program’s first NCAA Tournament trip. DuBois coached Martina Rubesova, who in 2010, became the first Lady Demon player to be invited and participate in the 64-woman NCAA Singles Championship, and was the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year and the All-Louisiana Player of the Year. DuBois guided Northwestern State to another Southland Conference tournament title in 2013 and the school’s second appearance in the NCAA Team Tournament, posting an overall 14-8 record while placing four members on the All-Southland teams. The 2014 Lady Demons matched their 20-win record (20-6) with another SLC tournament title and NCAA appearance. Returning as head coach in 2018, he led the Lady Demons to their fifth conference tournament championship appearance in the 10 years he has been at NSU when there has been a conference tournament. He coached SLC Player of the Year Polina Mutel, who finished the season 17-6 in singles and 17-2 in doubles. At the end of the fall 2018 season, freshman Maria Skyba finished ranked No. 114 by the ITA, becoming the first Lady Demon to be ranked in singles since Rubesova in 2010. His overall coaching record is 425-240, including a 206-52 mark in Southland Conference matches. DuBois is a nine-time SLC Coach of the Year and his teams have won 11 SLC Tournament championships, 13 regular-season titles, to go along with the nine NCAA Tournament appearances. He coached more than 100 athletes who have earned first or second-team All-SLC honors, including 12 SLC Tennis “Conference Player of the Year” awards. DuBois saw 15 of his teams honored by the ITA for their outstanding academic achievements, posting a cumulative team grade point average of 3.2 or better and over 100 ITA scholar-athletes honored for having over a 3.5 individual grade point average. A Kingston, New York native, DuBois competed in tennis for St. Bonaventure University in the Atlantic 10 Conference where he received his bachelor’s degree in physical education. DuBois earned his graduate degree in sports administration from Kent State in Ohio. DuBois’ wife, Lise, is a Natchitoches native and an instructor in the business department & department of family and consumer sciences at Northwestern State University. They have one daughter, Mazie Catherine, who earned her undergraduate degree from LSU. She and Zachary Ashworth of DeQuincy were married in June 2021.