Head Coach: Phil Birnbaum
Phil Birnbaum remains the foundation of Stockton women’s tennis as he enters his 11th season as head coach. Birnbaum built the Stockton program from scratch after his hiring upon the program’s creation in 2000. Since then, he has won nearly three-fourths of his matches and kept the Ospreys near the top of the NJAC standings and on the heels of 27-time league champ College of New Jersey.

Last year, Stockton endured a rebuilding year but still produced seven victories to bring Birnbaum within reach of the 100-win mark. The Ospreys started quickly in 2009 with five consecutive victories on the way to a 9-3 record during the fall semester. They then went 2-3 in Hilton Head during spring break to finish at 11-6. Stockton also began the 2008 season with five straight wins and dropped only one match in the fall before finishing with an 11-4 record under Birnbaum.

In 2007, Birnbaum led Stockton to its highest win total ever with a 15-3 record. The Ospreys again began the season with five consecutive wins and later ended the slate with a 4-1 mark on their spring break trip to Hilton Head. The 15 wins surpassed the previous high of 13 victories in 2006 when Birnbaum coached Stockton to a 13-2 record. In 2005, the Ospreys went 6-2 in a rain-plagued campaign that included three cancellations.

Birnbaum led the team to its second consecutive one-loss season in 2004 with an 11-1 mark and a third straight second-place finish in the NJAC. The Ospreys posted a 9-1 record in 2003 and Birnbaum was rewarded with NJAC Coach of the Year and USPTA Middle States Coach of the Year honors. That success came following a 2002 campaign in which Stockton went 7-2 overall and tied for second place in its first year of NJAC competition. Birnbaum guided the fledgling Ospreys to a 5-5 mark in their inaugural season of 2001.

Birnbaum created the boys tennis program at Ocean City High School in 1970 and later took over the OCHS girls tennis program in 1986. Overall, he won over 650 matches, more than 20 league or division titles and eight South Jersey championships. Birnbaum is a member of the NJSIAA Hall of Fame, South Jersey Tennis Association Hall of Fame and Ocean City High School Hall of Fame.

Birnbaum was a nationally ranked player at Glassboro State who earned all-conference honors and served as a team captain. He has built one of the largest community tennis programs on the East Coast in over 30 years as the head professional and tennis director for Ocean City.

Phone: (609) 626-6082
Email: birnbaup@stockton.edu

Assistant Coach:
Stephanie Krupa
Stephanie Krupa returns for her second year as an assistant coach after finishing her playing career at Stockton in 2009. Krupa played two seasons at Stockton, compiling records of 26-14 in singles and 15-9 in doubles. She was named NJAC Player of the Week twice in 2009.

Prior to her arrival at Stockton, Krupa played for Gloucester County College, where she earned 2007 NJCAA All-American honors in doubles and won Region XIX titles in singles and doubles. Krupa received the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Unsung Hero award at Stockton’s 2009-10 athletic awards banquet. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Stockton in May 2010.