Brian Kalbas is still flying under the Carolina blue radar.                              

A couple of years ago, I ran into a very nice woman at an event out in Fearrington Village. Since I was there to speak about Carolina sports, she just happened to mention that her son-in-law coached the Tar Heels women tennis team.         

“Brian Kalbas?” I said with raised eyebrows. “He is a superstar coach, you know that, right?”

She smiled and replied that she knew and that she attends every Carolina match she can. When I saw that Kalbas’ team won a fourth ITA National Indoor Championship last week, I looked up his record to see just what a superstar coach he is.   He is right up there with Anson Dorrance, Karen Shelton and Jenny Levy in UNC’s Olympic coaching Hall of Fame.                           

To win so much in any sport at any level, you need great players. And Kalbas has managed to recruit enough of them to make UNC women’s tennis one of the elite programs in the country over his 17 years at the helm.           

How about this resume:                                                                      

  • Most wins of any coach in ACC women’s tennis history with a 431-87 record at Carolina. That is a winning percentage of almost 82. Including 11 years at Williams & Mary, Kalbas has the second-most Division I wins among active coaches in his sport.
  • Carolina’s latest ITA National Indoor Championship was his fourth, including titles in 2013, 2015 and 2018. His players have reached three NCAA Team Championship semifinals (2010, ’14, ’19), won an NCAA doubles title in 2007 and an NCAA singles crown in 2015 by All-American Jamie Loeb.
  • UNC has advanced to the NCAA tournament all 16 years under Kalbas’ leadership and is obviously headed there again this season with a 10-0 record so far.
  • Additionally, he has won five ACC Championships, including four straight from 2016-19, and has been named ACC Coach of the Year five times.                                                                         

Plus, there is much more that time and space don’t allow to make any mother-in-law proud, wouldn’t you say?

Photo via Go Heels.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
UNC Women's Tennis Earns Wins vs. No. 9 NC State, No. 1 Georgia
The UNC women’s tennis team notched a pair of high-quality wins during a snowy weekend in North Carolina, beating No. 9 NC State in Cary Friday and then returning to the Chewning Tennis Center to beat No. 1 Georgia Sunday. Against the Wolfpack Friday, the Tar Heels won the match 4-3 despite falling in an […]
UNC's Reese Brantmeier Wins NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championship
UNC senior Reese Brantmeier defeated Cal’s Berta Passola Folch in an all-ACC championship match at the NCAA Women’s Singles Championship in Orlando Sunday. Brantmeier won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. OUR CHAMP 🏆🎥 pic.twitter.com/ZU3PlvOJqu — Carolina Women's Tennis 🐏🎾 (@UNC_wtennis) November 23, 2025 Sunday’s win capped off a thrilling week for Brantmeier, who played three-set […]
UNC Women's Sports Programs Win 2024-25 Capital One Cup
UNC has been named the winner of the 2024-25 Capital One Cup, awarded annually to the most successful women’s athletic program of the season. The winner is determined by accumulating points in a combination of NCAA championship wins and major poll finishes. Four women’s sports programs at UNC – field hockey, soccer, lacrosse and tennis […]
UNC Women's Tennis Falls to No. 1 Georgia in NCAA Semifinals
Playing without ACC Player of the Year Reese Brantmeier, UNC struggled in its national semifinal match against No. 1 Georgia in Waco, TX Saturday. The Bulldogs controlled the match throughout and defeated the Tar Heels 4-0, ending Carolina’s season. Georgia won the doubles point thanks to wins on No. 1 and No. 2 court. UNC […]
UNC Women's Tennis Advances to National Semifinals Despite Reese Brantmeier's Injury
UNC overcame an early injury to ACC Player of the Year Reese Brantmeier in singles to beat No. 13 LSU 4-2 in the NCAA quarterfinals in Waco, TX Thursday afternoon. Carolina is back in the Final Four for the fourth time in five seasons. See y'all in the semis 👋#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/4K9RFcra8S — Carolina […]
Art's Angle: Women's World
This past weekend was about the young women who make Carolina great in so many ways, particularly on the fields and courts. On Friday, the tennis Tar Heels defeated N.C. State for the third time this season, and this one was tougher than beating the Wolfpack in the regular season and the ACC tournament semifinals. […]
UNC Women's Tennis Beats No. 12 NC State, Advances to NCAA Quarterfinals
No. 5 overall seed UNC overcame a rare loss in doubles to beat No. 12 NC State 4-2 in the NCAA Tournament’s round of 16 Friday night at the Chewning Tennis Center. The Tar Heels will now advance to the NCAA Championship, which begins next week in Waco, TX. CAROLINA VICTORY!#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/MumTCAtTvp — […]
UNC Women's Tennis Advances to NCAA Super Regionals; Will Face No. 12 NC State Next
No. 5 overall seed UNC swept its way past VCU and South Carolina at the Chewning Tennis Center during the weekend to advance to the NCAA Tournament super regionals next weekend. The action got underway Friday afternoon, with the Tar Heels taking the court against the Rams after South Carolina had defeated Kansas in the […]
Chansky's Notebook: Athlete and Artist
UNC's Reese Brantmeier wants to play professional tennis, but has an obvious interest in a second satisfying, competitive career.
UNC Women's Tennis Earns No. 5 Overall Seed in NCAA Tournament
UNC will be the No. 5 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournament. The full bracket was announced Monday afternoon. LET'S DANCE 💃 NCAA Tournament action coming to Chewning this weekend 🔜#GoHeels x #NCAATennis pic.twitter.com/kLDDqCzGOH — Carolina Women's Tennis 🐏🎾 (@UNC_wtennis) April 28, 2025 As a national seed, the Tar Heels will host […]
›