Erica Cano is in her fourth season as an assistant coach for her alma mater. In 2016-17, Erica will move from full-tiime assistant to volunteer assistant as she pursues a master's degree at UCSB.
College
Erica walked on as a freshman at UCSB after a successful high school and junior tennis career. She had three coaches during her collegiate tennis tenure, Pete Kirkwood, Charlotte Scatliffe and finally Simon Thobideau for her senior year. As team captain and with Thibodeau as her coach , her overall singles record was 18-9 and 8-1 in conference matches . Her wins included wins over #70 UC Irvine, #72 CSUN, #63 Portland, #40 Long Beach, PAC 12 team Colorado and #7 Cal. Erica was 18-3 over her last 21 singles matches of her collegiate career, earning her MVP and Gaucho Spirit Honors from her team.
Erica served on the Student Athlete Advisory Board, and chaired the community service committee. She was also the Player Representative on the Hiring Committee for a Head Coach of the Women’s Tennis Program in 2012.
Erica received the Golden Eagle award for her excellent academics and the Ms. Gaucho award, an award given to one male and one female student-athlete per year who exemplifies what it means to be UCSB Student-Athlete, both in her senior year.
Erica graduated with a B.A in philosophy and a minor in English in 2013 and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Santa Barbara Tennis Patrons, an organization committed to spreading the game of tennis to the youth of Santa Barbara.
High School
Erica attended Dos Pueblos High School in Santa Barbara and graduated in 2009. She was team captain and MVP for two years during her tenure. She lead her team to four straight CIF quarter final appearances and was a four-time First-Team All-Channel League selection.
During her senior year, Erica was selected as the Athlete of the Week by the Santa Barbara Athletic Roundtable. The selection honors the most outstanding athlete from all of the athletic teams in the greater Santa Barbara area.
Erica was a member of the California Scholarship Federation and National Honors Society and also received the Community Service Excellence award.
Personal
Erica has a younger brother, Austin, and a younger sister, Heather. She loves to camp, hike, go to the beach, culture her photography and read. Her favorite tennis player currently is Serena Williams because she admires her desire to compete and dominate at the highest level of tennis. Her favorite players of all time include Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport, and Kim Clijsters. Her favorite philosophers of all time include Ben Franklin and Plato. Erica’s educational goal is to obtain her Master of Education.
