Boomer Saia - Tennis Coach - Iowa State University Athletics

Boomer Saia

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
saia@iastate.edu
Phone:
515-294-2053

Awards & Honors
Big 12 Coach of the Year (2021, 2023)
Wilson ITA Central Region Coach of the Year (2021, 2023)

Boomer Saia (pronounced CY-uh) orchestrated one of the best turnarounds in college tennis, leading the Iowa State tennis program from 2018-23. He was a two-time ITA Central Region Coach of the Year and Big 12 Coach of the Year.

In his five seasons leading the program, Saia coached the Cyclones to the longest home winning streak in school history (23 matches), a school-record seven conference wins in 2023, the first Big 12 Conference Tournament win in school history and the first three NCAA Tournament berths in school history. Saia finished his Cyclone tenure with a 66-38 record, the third-most wins in school history while averaging 17 wins the last three seasons. He was 18-20 against Big 12 opponents, breaking the school record for conference wins.

The 2023 Cyclones hosted the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship. The spring success also included advancing to the ITA National Indoor Championships after wins against No. 18 UCLA and No. 10 Miami. At the national tournament, ISU beat No. 9 Vanderbilt and followed with a win against No. 1 Texas, the first-ever against the Longhorns and a top-ranked opponent.

Iowa State posted 24 top-50 wins during his tenure, which represent the only top-50 victories in school history.

One of the nation’s brightest young coaches and an integral part of teams that have reached the Final Four at Vanderbilt and most recently the Elite Eight at Texas Tech, Saia was named Iowa State head coach on June 14, 2018 and the Cyclones began an upward trajectory in short fashion.

In addition to Iowa State's postseason and ITA National Indoor Success, the 2023 Cyclones finished 21-6 overall. It was the first 20-win season since the 1984-85 season and just the second in school history. The Cyclones finished 7-2 in conference action, tying for third in the Big 12 standings. The team climbed to as high as No. 4 in the ITA Team Rankings and finished the season at No. 8 overall, riding a streak of 29 consecutive polls in the rankings.

ISU beat Texas for the first time in school history in 2023, ending a streak that spanned 26 consecutive matches. The Cyclones beat Oklahoma State for the first time after dropping the first 49 matches to the Cowgirls, while also downing Baylor in Waco for the first time in school history. ISU's win against Iowa in Iowa City was its first since 1976 and the third straight against the Hawkeyes.

Individually, Thasaporn Naklo, the first Cyclone to earn a spot in the NCAA Singles Championship in 2022, earned her second-straight berth to the tournament. Naklo was ranked No. 40 in the singles poll, the highest-ranking ever by an ISU player to end a season. Ange Oby Kajuru (No. 52) and Miska Kadleckova (No. 123) joined Naklo in the singles rankings, while ISU also placed three doubles teams inside the top 80.

Kajuru (No.2 Singles) and Sofia Cabezas (No. 5) were Big 12 individual position champions, while ISU was also position champions at No. 2 (Kajuru/Xinyi Nong) and No. 3 Doubles (Cabezas/Kadleckova).

The Cyclones went 16-7 in 2021-22, the most victories by the program since the 1986-87 season. ISU beat TCU in Fort Worth and Kansas in Lawrence for the first time in school history on its way to earning back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. The win over the 22^nd-ranked Jayhawks was the highest-ranked opponent ever defeated by the Cyclones.

Iowa State started the season with 11 consecutive wins, marking the best start in school history, and went on to beat Iowa for the second-straight time and set the school record with three Big 12 road wins. The Cyclones climbed to as high as No. 20 in the ITA rankings and finished the season No. 35, their second-straight season finishing among the nation’s top 35.

Individually, ISU advanced two doubles teams and Naklo in singles to the ITA National Fall Championship, the school’s first-ever players to reach the tournament. In the spring, Naklo became the first Cyclone to earn a bid to the NCAA Singles Championship, advancing to the Round of 32.

Naklo was ranked No. 55 in the final singles poll of the season and was joined by teammate Kajuru (No. 107) in the rankings. The doubles duo of Sofia Cabezas and Miska Kadleckova finished the season at No. 85.

Chie Kezuka (No. 5 singles) became ISU’s first Big 12 Individual Champion, while also teaming up with Kajuru (No. 3 doubles) for the same honor. The duo was All-Big 12 Second Team in doubles, while Kajuru the same accolade in singles.

In 2020-21, Saia earned Big 12 Coach of the Year and Wilson ITA Central Region Coach of the Year honors after leading Iowa State to a 14-8 overall record and the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Iowa State went undefeated at home (8-0) for the second-straight season and finished the season ranked.

The Cyclones opened the season with seven consecutive victories. Iowa State rolled into Big 12 play with an 8-2 record.

ISU made history on the second weekend of league play, snapping a 29-match losing streak and defeating No. 30 Texas Tech for the first time in school history. Two days later, Iowa State beat No. 41 TCU for the first time in eight matches. Iowa State also defeated Kansas State and No. 44 Kansas to win a school-record four conference matches.

The Cyclone success continued into the postseason as the Cyclones disposed of then-No. 29 Texas Tech for the first Big 12 Tournament win in school history and the first win at a conference tournament match since the 1994 season.

The result of the season was the NCAA Tournament and the Cyclones didn’t disappoint, upsetting No. 24 South Carolina, 4-2, for the biggest win in school history. ISU would then push No. 6 NC State to the brink, falling 4-2 in the round of 32.

Naklo impressed as a freshman at the NCAA Tournament, knocking off the nation’s No. 30 and No. 6 players in the first and second rounds, respectively.

Another freshman, Miska Kadleckova was named to the All-Big 12 Second Team and the Big 12 All-Freshman Team after posting a 16-3 record in singles play.

In 2019-20, Saia had the young Cyclones off to a 9-5 start before COVID-19 cut the season short in early March. Iowa State had opened with a perfect 8-0 home record, running its home winning streak to nine matches.

The Cyclones picked up a monumental 4-3 win against Iowa, snapping a 39-match losing streak that spanned 44 years to their instate rivals. Coupled with a win later that weekend against West Virginia, Iowa State moved into the top 50 of the national rankings at No. 48.

Iowa State also had multiple individuals ranked in the same season for the first time in school history. Maty Cancini was ranked early in the season, while Naklo later earned the highest singles ranking in school history at No. 72. Naklo also teamed up with fellow freshman Christin Hsieh to become the first Cyclone doubles pair to be ranked (No. 45), with their strong season including a win over the nation's No. 22 pairing from NC State.

In his first season in Ames, Saia led Iowa State to its highest Big 12 Conference finish as it ended the season tied for seventh place. The Cyclones picked up a number of historic wins, including a victory against Baylor that was the school’s first-ever win against the Lady Bears and the first against a Big 12 school from the state of Texas in 96 meetings.

The Cyclones also defeated Nebraska for the first time since 1995 and just the fourth time in 47 meetings, setting the tone for a promising future under Saia’s leadership.

Individually, Cancini became just the second Cyclone to earn a national ranking, topping out at No. 74 nationally. She won four matches against nationally ranked foes, including a thrilling win against No. 29 Bianca Turati of Texas.

Saia possesses a great familiarity with the Big 12 Conference, having spent much of his professional career in the league. He has been on staff as an assistant at Oklahoma (2014-16) and also worked in a volunteer role at his alma mater Kansas (2010-14), where both programs ranked inside the top-35 during his tenure.

He came to Iowa State after helping Texas Tech to a 20-win season and an appearance in the Elite Eight in 2018, his first season with the Lady Raiders. The team ranked in the top-15 all season and finished second in the Big 12.

Saia helped coach Gabriela Talaba to All-America honors and the No. 2 ranking in the ITA College singles rankings. The Lady Raiders doubles duo of Sabrina Federici and Sarah Dvorak also ranked in the nation’s top 10.

A tireless recruiter, Saia helped sign the nation’s second-ranked class for Texas Tech in 2018.

The Arkansas City, Kan., native spent the 2016-17 season on staff at Vanderbilt, playing a key role in the Commodores’ SEC regular season and tournament championships before advancing to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.

He coached a pair of top-ranked Commodores in Astra Sharma (No. 2) and Sydney Campbell (No. 8) to All-America tournament semifinals and National Indoor quarterfinals and semifinals.

Saia has also been a Texas Team National Coach (2018) and Missouri Valley National Junior Team Coach (2016).

Saia earned his bachelor’s degree in sport management from Kansas in 2011. He received his master’s degree of education with an emphasis on sports administration at KU in 2013.

Saia played collegiate tennis at Cowley College (Kan.). He advanced to the semifinals of the NJCAA national tournament as a sophomore while being paired with Roger White. The Tigers finished No. 11 nationally in 2008 and No. 9 in 2009.

Saia and his wife, the former Whitney Hoskins, were married in 2019. They have two sons, Ryder and Weston.

Saia Year-By-Year

Year	School	Overall Record	Conference Record	Postseason
2018-19	Iowa State	6-12 (.333)	2-7 (.222)	None
2019-20	Iowa State	9-5 (.643)	1-2 (.333)	Season Cancelled due to Covid-19
2020-21	Iowa State	14-8 (.636)	4-4 (.500)	NCAA Second Round
2021-22	Iowa State	16-7 (.696)	4-5 (.444)	NCAA First Round
2022-23	Iowa State	21-6 (.778)	7-2 (.778)	NCAA Quarterfinals
Overall	Five Seasons	66-38 (.635)	18-20 (.474)	Three NCAA Tournament Appearances