Year of Service: 10th
Moravian College ’92
Hometown: Califon, NJ
Education: BA, Business Management and
Sociology; MEd, Sports Management
After taking over The College of New Jersey’s men’s and women’s tennis teams in the fall of 2000, Scott Dicheck enjoyed a highly successful first season with the Lions, producing three All-Americans. He followed up his rookie season at TCNJ by helping the two programs finish with winning records and numerous individual acclaim and recognition.
In his first season with the Lions, he guided the women’s team to the 2000 NJAC Championship and was named the NJAC Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year for his efforts. Over the course of the season, Dicheck’s women’s squad compiled a 9-5 record, while individual players received acclaim as well. In the fall, the top doubles tandem of Jennifer Crombie and Monika Jakober won the 2000 ITA Northeast Regional Doubles title, while Crombie was the runner-up for the singles crown in the same tournament. The pair finished in fifth place nationally at the Rolex National
Tournament. In the spring of 2001, the pair earned a bid to the NCAA Division III Championships, where they advanced to the quarterfinals and earned All-America honors for their efforts.
TCNJ’s men’s team also enjoyed considerable success under the first-year coach as junior Rob Howland won the 2000 ITA Northeast Regional Singles title and advanced to the Rolex Nationals where he captured an eighth place finish and earned ITA All-America honors. The Lions suffered a disappointing finish to the 2000–01 season after Howland suffered a broken arm and was lost to the team and the squad missed a bid to the NCAA team tournament. Sophomore Marc Hill was tapped as the first alternate for the 2001 NCAA Singles draw, while Howland’s injury kept him from competing after a banner season.
In 2001–02, Dicheck was named the NJAC Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year after directing the team to another league championship title and extending the team’s NJAC unbeaten streak. He also coached the NJAC Player of the Year in Kelly Hernandez and the Rookie of the Year in Katie D’Amato. By year’s end, the women’s team finished the campaign with an 8-5 overall record. The men’s team battled a couple key injuries to its two top performers, Marc Hill and Rob Howland in 2001-02. Despite, the injuries, the team finished the year with a 6-5 overall mark and earned several honors in fall tournament play as well.
On the 2002-2003 season, Dicheck had another banner pair of campaigns that saw the women’s team go 14-3 on the year, while producing a pair of ITA All-Americans. The men’s team went 8-8 on the year and senior team captain, Marc Hill earned a spot at the 2003 NCAA Division III Singles Tournament. He was once again named the NJAC’s Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year in the fall of 2002 and coached both the NJAC Player of the Year and the league’s Rookie of the Year, Amy Huah.
In his fourth season with the Lions, Dicheck helped the women's program return to the NCAA Division III Tournament after winning the program's 21st consecutive NJAC championship and extending the program's NJAC unbeaten streak to 100 matches. The Lions went 14-3 on the year and had the 2003 NJAC Player of the Year in Kristen Klepacki. Klepacki and classmate, Jackie Gavornik would earn ITA All-America honors in the fall after taking seventh place at the ITA Nationals in doubles together. The squad finished the season ranked No. 23 in the final ITA poll. The Lion men's squad went 8-6 on the year after starting the season off with an undefeated fall campaign and winning the sportsmanship award at the Philadelphia Area Team Tennis Tournament.
On the 2004-2005 campaign, the Lion women would once again produce a 14-3 record and by season's end had earned a regional ranking on ninth in the Northeast and No. 28 nationally. Dicheck received his third award as the NJAC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year as well, after the Lions won the program's 22nd consecutive league title and extended the NJAC unbeaten streak to 106 straight matches. In addition, the Lions once again had the league's Rookie and Player of the Year in Christina Contraffato.
At the same time, TCNJ's men's team finished the year with a stellar 12-3 record and earned a No. 8 regional and No. 26 national ranking by season's end. Dicheck also coached the first singles player, Ryan Carty to a spot in the 2005 NCAA Division III Singles Championship.
In the fall of 2004, Dicheck received the 2004 Roy Van Ness Award, given annually at the College as selected by his peers. The award is given annually to a coach at TCNJ, who has exemplified the College's ideals of dedication and hard work. Dicheck is the 18th recipient of this honor. On his Lion career, Dicheck has now coached eight All-Americans at TCNJ, while also coaching five NJAC Women's Tennis Players of the Year and three NJAC Rookies of the Year.
TCNJ's women's team continued its unbelievable winning streak against NJAC foes after once again going undefeated in the fall of 2005 and watching the league win streak grow to 111 consecutive wins. The league championship was the 23rd straight title for the Lions as TCNJ once again produced the NJAC Player of the Year in Contrafatto. The 2005 NJAC Rookie of the Year was another Lion as Haley Kutner was cited. Dicheck produced yet another All-American in 2005 as Contrafatto was victorious at the ITA Fall Regional Tournament at William Smith College and then advanced to the National Tournament in Fort Myers, Florida, where she placed seventh nationally. As a team, TCNJ was ranked as high as 25th nationally during the 2005-2006 campaign.
For the 2005-2006 season, TCNJ's men's season started with an impressive 7-0 victory as the Lions opened dual match play with a convincing win over nationally touted Washington College. Despite some impressive performances against regionally and nationally ranked opponents, the Lions finished at 8-4 on the campaign after injuries plagued the team in the latter part of the season. Team MVP honors went to Carty, while No. 2 singles player Mike Klimchak earned the Coaches' Award after an impressive season, while the Most Improved Player was given to Eric Ferriere. Playing anywhere from third to sixth singles, he compiled an 11-1 record and a 10-2 doubles mark on the season. Over the course of the season, Dicheck recorded his 50th career dual match singles victory as the Lions bested Connecticut College, 7-0.
The 2006-2007 campaign for the Lions was another benchmark one for both teams, as both the men's and women's team earned NCAA Tournament bids and received first-round byes. The women's team went 15-2 and was led by freshman All-American Jackie Shtemberg, who rocketed onto the college scene by winning the ITA Regional Singles Tournament in the fall and placing sixth nationally at the ITA Nationals. She also teamed with Christina Contrafatto to win the ITA Regional Doubles Championship and place fifth nationally together. Individually, Shtemberg was also invited to play in the 2007 NCAA Division III National Singles Championship and advanced to the second round before falling in three sets.
The 2006 Lions continued their winning streak in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, a mark that continues to grow. Shtemberg was named the NJAC’s Rookie and Player of the year. She was joined on the NJAC All-Star Team by Haley Kutner, and another rookie, Stefanie Haar.
TCNJ’s men’s team went 11-3 in 2006-2007 and earned an NCAA Tournament bid, while the team’s top doubles tandem of Mike Klimchak and Roger Mosteller were invited to compete in the 2007 NCAA Division III Doubles Championships. On the season, Klimchak stepped into the role as the team’s No. 1 singles player and responded in kind by earning a No. 15 national ranking individually after impressive wins over the ITA Eastern Region Singles Champion Mikhail Gurevich of NYU and Arturo Solis of Washington College. Collectively the Lions recorded impressive wins over Swarthmore College and Bates College for the first time under Dicheck’s direction.
This past season was the most successful for Dicheck as both the women's and men's team reached program benchmarks. The year commenced with the Lions sewing up their 25th consecutive NJAC championship crown and the Lions rolling to an unprecedented NJAC win streak of 121-0. He was once again cited as the Lions' Coach of the Year, an honor he shared with Rutgers-Newark's Kevin Morris. He coached TCNJ's sophomore Jackie Shtemberg to the 2007 ITA National Small College Singles Championship, a program first for the Lions. Shtemberg and Contrafatto also combined to earn ITA All-American honors in doubles in October. At the same tournament, men's singles performer Mike Klimchak would also earn ITA All-America honors for his play, another Lion first. Dicheck was recognized by the UTSA as The New Jersey Coach of the Year for 2007. Success was not limited to the fall for the Lion women and men's teams as both programs garnered NCAA Tournament bids and the Lion men advanced to the third round for the first time, while Klimchak and Mosteller would once again earn invitations to the NCAA singles and doubles events. Klimchak would advance to the quarterfinal before falling and finished the season ranked seventh nationally in singles after earning All-America honors from the NCAA and the ITA on the year.
Dicheck came to TCNJ in the fall of 2000 after serving as the head men’s and women’s tennis coach at Allentown College from 1996–2000. In just three short seasons, Dicheck turned DeSales University's women’s tennis program around. He took a squad that consisted of just five players to a contender in the Middle Atlantic Conference that finished in second place this past season. His 1999 team, which consisted of four freshmen starters, established new marks for most wins and best win percentage.
A 1992 graduate of Moravian College, Dicheck was the No. 1 singles and doubles player for the Greyhounds his freshman and sophomore seasons. Tapped as team MVP one year, he started his coaching career becoming a tennis professional at the Westend Racquet Club in Allentown, PA. He held that position for nearly ten years after starting in December of 1990. A graduate of Voorhees High School, he was the top singles performer there as a junior and senior, and was also named team MVP twice.
Active in the local tennis community, Dicheck has been involved with the USTA Junior Development Program as an instructor and in 1989 served as instructor at the Frank Brennan Tennis Academy instructing the Russian National Junior Team. He has also been actively involved with community service both as a charity tennis tournament organizer and participant. He was awarded the United States Tennis Association and Intercollegiate Tennis Association Middle States Campus Recreation Award in 2004. That same year, he was appointed to the Middle States College Committee and named to the USTA Advocacy Steering Committee. In addition to running TCNJ's club tennis team, Dicheck has also supervised the 2004-2006 teams that participated in the USA Team Tennis National Campus Championships.
Dicheck received his master’s degree in sports management at East Stroudsburg University in 2000.
Dicheck’s Year-by-Year Record at TCNJ
Men’s Tennis
YEAR RECORD PCT.
2000–01 9-4 .692
2001–02 6-5 .545
2002–03 8-8 .500
2003-04 8-6 .571
2004-05 12-3 .800
2005-06 8-4 .750
2006-07 11-3 .786
2007-08 10-6 .625
Totals 72-39 .649
Women’s Tennis
YEAR OVERALL RECORD NJAC RECORD
2000–01 9-5 4-0*
2001–02 8-5 4-0*
2002–03 14-3 5-0*
2003-04 14-3 5-0*
2004-05 14-3 6-0*
2005-06 12-2 5-0*
2006-07 15-2 5-0*
2007-08 12-7 5-0*
Totals 98-30 39-0
*Indicates NJAC Champion.
