Samantha (Schall) Barr is set to begin her sixth year as head coach of the Grand Valley State men's and women's tennis programs. Barr took over at GVSU after three seasons as head coach of the men's and women's tennis programs at Division II University of Illinois-Springfield.
In the 2023-24 season, Barr guided both the Men's and Women's team to an NCAA Tournament berth for the third consecutive season. The Laker men upset the top seed Ferris State in the first round and finished the season with a 15-8 overall record and 4-2 conference mark. The men earned four players named to the All-GLIAC teams with Denys Zamaraiev and Sean Miller earning first team singles honors. The Laker women finished the season with a 14-10 overall record and 5-2 conference mark. The women defeated Findlay in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the second round for the third straight year. The women's team had five players named to the All-GLIAC teams including Taylor Barrett who was named an All-GLIAC singles and doubles performer.
In the 2022-23 season, Schall guided the Laker women to win the GLIAC Regular Season Championship with a perfect 7-0 GLIAC record. The women earned the three seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament and defeated Tiffin in the first round. Schall helped Vasileia Griva and Taylor Barrett earn ITA All-American honors as they were ranked number ten in the country in doubles at the end of the season. Rachel Sam was named the ITA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year under Schall. Schall earned GLIAC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year honors and Vasileia Griva was named the GLIAC Women's Tennis Player of the Year. The Laker women placed five on the All-GLIAC team. Vasileia Griva and Taylor Barrett earned first team honors, while Rachel Sam and Anna Soteras were named to the second team. Estefania Hernandez earned GLIAC honorable mention honors.
The Laker men also earned an NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season under Schall. The men finished the season 2022-23 season with a 12-10 record and earned the six seed in the NCAA Midwest Region. Senior Unai Gonzalez earned All-GLIAC first team honors, while senior Seabstian Arce earned second team All-GLIAC and Ignacio Morera-Lucas earned GLIAC honorable mention honors.
The GVSU women earned their first NCAA Tournament berth under Schall in the 2021-22 season. The women finished the season 15-7 and earned a three-way share of the GLIAC regular season championship with a 7-1 mark. In the NCAA Tournament, the Laker women upset the #3 seeded Drury Panthers in the first round. Senior Marija Leko earned First Team All-GLIAC honors, while Senior Vera Griva, junior Tayor Barrett, and sophomore Vasileia Griva were named to the All-GLIAC second team. Senior Marily Canellopoulos was named All-GLIAC honorable mention.
Schall also guided the Laker men to an NCAA Tournament appearance in the 2021-22 season. The men defeated rival Ferris State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and finished the season with a 17-5 record, 5-2 in the GLIAC. The Lakers advanced to the GLIAC Tournament Championship match for the second consecutive year under Schall. Graduate transfer Josep Canyadell earned first team All-GLIAC honors, while Sebastian Arce and Sean Miller earned second team honors. Tomas Oliveira was named All-GLIAC honorable mention.
The GVSU women finished the 2020-21 season with a 14-5 record and advanced to the GLIAC Tournament Championship match. Junior Vera Griva and sophomore Taylor Barrett earned All-GLIAC frist team honors, while junior Marija Leko was named to the second team. The GVSU men finished the season with a 9-10 record and advanced to the GLIAC Tournament Championship match. Junior Martin Matov earned All-GLIAC first team honors, while sophomoe Seam Miller and freshman Freddy Cossio were named to the All-GLIAC second team.
Schall guided the Laker women to an 18-3 overall mark, including an 8-1 mark in GLIAC action in the shortened 2019-20 season. GVSU advanced to the GLIAC Tournament Championship match and finished the shortened season ranked fifth in the ITA Midwest Regional rankings. Sophomore Vera Griva was named the GLIAC Player of the Year, while freshman Taylor Barrett was named the ITA Midwest Regional Newcomer of the Year. Griva and Barrett were named First-Team All-GLIAC, while sophomores Marily Canellopoulous and Marija Leko were second-team honorees and junior Liv Hanover was honorable mention All-GLIAC.
The Laker men concluded the shortened 2019-20 season 5-4 overall and ranked eighth in the ITA Midwest Regional rankings.
Schall was quick to turn around a Prairie Star tennis program that had never had a winning season upon her arrival. In her very first season, she led the women's team to their first-ever appearance in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Tournament. In her final season at UIS, the women's team was regionally ranked for the first time in school history.
On the men's side, she helped Cole Buehnerkemper break the Division II record in career wins and also earned both national and regional rankings for the first time in school history. The men's program also reached the GLVC Tournament in 2019 for the first time in eight seasons.
"I want to thank
Keri Becker and the search committee for selecting me to be the next head tennis coach at Grand Valley State University. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to lead the GVSU tennis programs and to join this athletics department and community," Schall says. "It was clear during my interview process that the tennis programs have the potential to be very successful on the court, in the classroom, and within the community and I am excited to lead the teams toward this vision. I am inspired by the tradition of excellence at GVSU, and I am eager to work hard alongside the men and women in this program to pursue our goals and to provide a great experience for the student athletes."
During all three seasons at UIS, both the men's and women's teams volunteered over 200 hours with Habitat for Humanity. The women's team also led all UIS programs in GPA in two of Schall's three seasons at the helm. The men maintained a team GPA of at least a 3.5 in all three seasons under Schall.
Prior to Illinois-Springfield, Schall was a player turned assistant coach at Division II Metropolitan State, where she was a three-time all-conference performer as a player before three seasons as an assistant. She graduated with a degree in business management with an emphasis in sports industry operations and also holds a master's in coaching and athletic administration from Concordia University-Irvine.
