AMCC 25TH ANNIVERSARY THEN & NOW SERIES: DOUG SMELTZER, PITT-GREENSBURG

Doug Smeltzer enters his fifth year as head coach of the Pitt-Greensburg men’s and women’s tennis teams in 2021.

On the women's side, Smeltzer was instrumental in the development of sophomore Hannah Sterrett who broke the school-record for singles wins in a season, compiling a 12-3 record.

In his first season at the helm, Smeltzer guided the women’s squad to the semifinals of the AMCC Tournament. The Bobcats entered the tournament as the #5 seed and traveled to face the #4 seed Medaille Mavericks. Pitt-Greensburg dropped all three doubles matches and saw themselves down 3-0 entering singles play, but the Bobcats regrouped and reeled off wins in five of the six singles matches to pull off the dramatic 5-4 victory.

Not only were the Bobcats honored for their play on the court, they also received distinctions for their work in the classroom, garnering AMCC Peak Performer honors for posting the highest GPA among all tennis teams in the conference. This was just the second time in program history that the Pitt-Greensburg women’s tennis team earned the Team Peak Performer Award.

Smeltzer led the Bobcats back to the AMCC Tournament in 2020, this time as regular season champions with a 5-0 conference record and out-scoring opponents 39-6. Pitt-Greensburg finished as runners-up in the AMCC Tournment. Smeltzer was a key component of developing AMCC Newcomer and Player of the Year, Emily Ruhlman to the top singles position in the AMCC.

While in charge of the men's team, Smeltzer propelled the Bobcats to the AMCC Tournament in his first season, posting victories over Mount Aloysius and on Senior Day against Pitt-Bradford.

In his second season at the helm, Smeltzer recruited and coached Turner Price, who became the first Pitt-Greensburg player to earn Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Player of the Year, as well as newcomer of the year. Price earned the conference's top individual awards after playing every match in the top singles spot, where he went on to compiled an 11-3 overall mark and a perfect 6-0 record in AMCC play. The Bobcats finished runners up in the AMCC Tournament in 2020.

During his three seasons playing for the Bobcats as a student-athlete, Smeltzer was a two-time All-Conference selection and was named Academic All-AMCC as a senior. Smeltzer received Scholar Athletic distinction as both a junior and senior and was also selected to the AMCC Sportsmanship Team twice during his playing career.

In his time at Pitt-Greensburg, Smeltzer was a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and served as a tutor for both Financial and Managerial Accounting.

He also founded and serves as the Director of the Legion Keener Opener Tennis Tournament in Latrobe, where he develops schedules for over 60 players in nine divisions. Proceeds raised from the Tournament are donated for various Parks and Recreation groups in the Latrobe area.

In addition to serving as the tennis coach at Pitt-Greensburg, Smeltzer works full-time at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

The Then and Now Series is part of the AMCC's 25th anniversary where the conference will be recognizing current AMCC coaches and/or athletic administrators who are former AMCC student-athletes. The Then and Series will run every Tuesday throughout the academic year.