Jodi Kest, the 2009-10 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year, returns for her sixth year as head coach of The University of Akron women's basketball program. After leading the Zips to their most successful season in program history in 2009-10, she took the Zips back to Cleveland in 2010-11 to the Mid-American Conference Tournament Quarterfinals, where Akron almost pulled the upset on top-seeded and eventual WNIT champion Toledo.

The 2011-12 season has Kest poised to become the winningest coach in program history, as she currently ranks third on the Zips' all-time coaching wins list with a 60-92 record at Akron (.395), behind Mary Ann Tripodi and John Street, who each have 65 wins. Overall, Kest owns a 286-245 (.539) career head coaching record over 19 seasons.

In 2010-11, the Zips finished 14-16 overall and 6-10 in conference play. As a team, they set new marks with the largest margin of victory ever in a MAC game when they defeated Northern Illinois by 29 points on the road on Feb. 5. Akron's 4-4 record in league road games tied the best finish since the 1999-2000 season.

Several records were broken this season, highlighted by Kara Murphy surpassing Cheryl Bowles for the all-time scoring record. Murphy was Kest's first-ever recruit at Akron. In almost storybook fashion, Murphy broke the record on two crucial free throws in the final minutes at Buffalo to help give Akron a gritty road victory, 71-67. She also became the Zips' all-time leader with 123 games played, never missing a start in her career.

Under Kest's guidance, Tecca had one of the best seasons in program history as only a sophomore. Her 475 points are fifth-most all-time and her 288 rebounds are third-most ever in a single season. She also set the program mark for double-doubles in a season with 16. She finished the year averaging 15.8 points per game and 9.6 rebounds per game, along with a 49.6 field goal percentage.

Four Zips received conference honors for their play during the 2010-11 campaign. Tecca highlighted the group, as she became just the third player in program history to make the All-MAC First Team. Murphy, Akron's lone senior, earned Honorable Mention honors to join Cheryl Bowles as the only two Zips to garner all-conference recognition all four years of their career.

For the sixth straight year, Akron placed a representative on the All-Freshman Team in Carly Young. Also, junior Jasmine Mushington was named Co-Sixth Player of the Year with Central Michigan's Taylor Johnson. Keeping it in the Zip family, Tecca was the recipient of the award last year. In just six seasons, Kest has now had seven student-athletes earn All-MAC recognition, six make the All-Freshman Team, and two earn Sixth Player of the Year honors.

Earning recognition off the court as well, Tecca was named to the Capital One Academic All-District Third Team for District 4, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The list recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performance on the floor and in the classroom. This is the first such honor for the Tallmadge, Ohio native, who carries a 3.90 GPA in Corporate Financial Management. Tecca became the first women's basketball player in program history to earn this distinction.

Adding to her accolades, Tecca was Akron's lone representative on the Academic All-MAC squad, marking the third consecutive year that the Zips placed a member on the team. Both Taylor Ruper and Natasha Williams earned Honorable Mention honors, as well.

Since arriving on campus in 2006, Kest, who inherited a program that had won an average of four games per season in the six years prior to her arrival, has elevated the Zips to unprecedented heights, highlighted by the 2009-10 record-setting campaign. Under Kest, Akron has now won more games in her past three seasons alone (43) than in the seven seasons prior to her arrival (35 wins from 1999-2000 to 2005-06).

In 2009-10, UA recorded its highest win total (18) in the 36-year history of the program. The Zips also set highs for league wins (11), home wins (11) and held opponents to an average of 59.6 points per game, representing the best mark in school history and the third-lowest average in league history.

Kest became the first UA women's coach to receive Coach of the Year accolades from the MAC and just the second Akron basketball coach (men's or women's) to do so, following Dan Hipsher, who was presented the award for the men's team in 1997-98.

In addition to the aforementioned benchmarks, Akron (18-14, 11-5 MAC) secured a first-round bye at the MAC Tournament for the first time and advanced to the semifinals for just the second time since becoming a league member in 1992. The Zips were then selected to compete in the Women's Basketball Invitational, marking their first postseason appearance in 11 years and just their second appearance all-time.

After the milestone year, Kest was rewarded with a new contract extension that will keep her at UA through the 2014-15 season.

After opening the season with a 6-8 record, the Zips caught fire, winning 11 of their last 15 games of the regular season. Highlighting the hot stretch was a five-game win streak in league play against West Division foes Western Michigan (58-44), Ball State (66-64, OT), Eastern Michigan (73-66), Central Michigan (62-55) and Northern Illinois (57-39). Wins over the Cardinals and Eagles during that run represented two of five MAC road wins on the season for UA, which was another program high.

In all, the Zips won eight of nine contests from early January to the start of February to finish third in the MAC East Division. It was UA's second-highest league finish in the league since joining the MAC in 1992.

Individual accolades followed the Zips' record-setting season. In addition to Kest's coaching honors, Akron placed two on the All-MAC squad – Kara Murphy earned second team recognition while Kyle Baumgartner was named to the third team – and freshman Rachel Tecca became the first women's basketball player in Zips' history to be named MAC Sixth Player of the Year. Tecca, who averaged 10.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in 22.5 minutes off the bench, was also named to the All-MAC Freshman Team. Following the season, senior Jolene Tamboue was named to the Academic All-MAC Team after posting a 3.353 cumulative GPA as a biochemistry major at UA.

Murphy, in particular, blossomed under Kest's guidance. The gem of Kest's first recruiting class at UA, she led the conference in scoring (19.3 ppg), while ranking 22nd nationally, as a sophomore in 2008-09. Furthermore, the physical forward set the school's single-season record for points (580) and became the youngest player in UA history to reach the 1,000-point plateau for a career. Murphy scored at least 20 points in 16 of 30 games that year and eclipsed the 30-point barrier three times.

For her efforts, Murphy was named to the All-MAC first team, joining Cheryl Bowles (1999-00) as the only two players in program history to receive first-team accolades. Her record-setting season followed a freshman campaign that saw her lead the Zips in scoring (14.5 ppg) and team up with Keyla Snowden (14.2) to form the highest-scoring freshman duo in the nation. Murphy subsequently earned all-freshman and All-MAC third team honors.

The Zips' historic campaign followed a breakout season on many fronts in 2008-09. In a year that began with an upset win over Michigan – just the program's second ever victory against a Big Ten opponent, UA recorded its highest win totals, for both overall record (11) and in MAC play (6), in nine years.

Furthermore, the Zips snapped a number of dubious streaks along the way; defeating Kent State at home to snap a string of 18 straight defeats to the rival Golden Flashes, ending a 16-game slide to Ohio and a seven-game streak to Buffalo, and recording the program's first league road victory since 2004-05 - snapping a string of 19 consecutive defeats - with a convincing 68-56 decision at Miami (Ohio).

Kest enjoyed an impressive inaugural campaign in 2006-07 that saw the Zips double their win total from the previous year, experience their longest winning streak since 1996 and place two players on All-Mid-American Conference postseason teams.

A one-point victory over Lehigh in December of '06 jump started a six-game win streak for the Zips en route to their first double-digit win season since 1999-2000. Although UA struggled early on in league play, the young team showed resolve late by winning three of its final eight contests – including a tough, overtime defeat on the road in the regular-season finale.

In 2007-08, the Zips got off to a quick start in posting big wins at home against Saint Louis (81-77) and Houston (81-76). Despite a difficult non-conference schedule against some of the nation's elite teams, including Utah, Nebraska and Dayton, Akron was an even .500 (5-5) after the first 10 games of the year. But injuries and inexperience led to challenges down the stretch.

Despite that, Murphy recorded one of the most prolific individual seasons in school history. She became the first UA freshman to receive all-conference honors, earning a third team designation after leading the team in scoring (14.5/game), rebounding (5.6/game) and steals (40). She was also the ninth-highest freshman scorer in the nation and earned a spot on the MAC All-Freshman team. Her 449 point total for the year was the fifth-highest mark in school history.

Prior to coming to Akron, Kest guided the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi program to a 73-40 (.646) record (16-12 in 2005-06) in four years, tallying a winning mark in each season and being named Independent Coach of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2005). Also, under Kest's tutelage, guard Terra Andrews was named Division I Independent Player of the year in three consecutive seasons from 2003-06. With the Islanders, Kest posted the 200th win of her career and left the school with the most wins in program history.

The highlight of her tenure came during the 2004-05 campaign when the Islanders won a school-record 23 games (23-7), and advanced to the second round of the National Invitation Tournament. The team received votes in the top 25 poll that season as well. From 2004-2006, TAMU-CC defeated such teams as Indiana, West Virginia, Nevada, Fresno State and Kent State.

Kest served as coach at Gannon University in Erie, Pa., for six seasons (1996-97 through 2001-02) prior to her stop in Corpus Christi. During that time, she developed a two-time Division II All-American, 10 all-conference players, a pair of freshmen of the year and five all-defensive first team honorees.

In 2001-02, the Golden Knights won the GLIAC South championship, advanced to the Division II national tournament and were ranked as high as sixth in the nation. Overall, Kest built a 105-64 (.621) mark with the Golden Knights, and guided the program to three-consecutive NCAA Division II tournament appearances and three-straight 20-win seasons.

Under Kest's leadership, Gannon center Kristin Roseberry developed into one of the best players in the nation, earning All-American honors in 2000 and 2001. Roseberry was named GLIAC Freshman of the Year in 1999 before guard Jen Gwin earned that distinction in 2002. Kest left the school with the most victories in program history.

Kest cut her teeth as a head coach at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., from 1986-1990 (48-49/.494), rebuilding the struggling Division III program. After posting a 17-29 combined mark in her first two years at the helm, the 1988-89 campaign brought major improvements as the team qualified for the Middle Atlantic Conference playoffs for the first time in program history with a 16-10 record. She was tabbed as the league's coach of the year that season.

The ninth head coach in Akron program history, Kest served as an assistant coach at a number of Division I schools, logging time at Maine (1990-92), Cleveland State (1992-93), Nevada (1993-95) and Cal Poly (1995-96).

A 1984 graduate of Slippery Rock, with a Bachelor of Science degree in physical education, Kest was a two-sport standout in basketball and tennis. The three-time basketball team captain garnered All-American honors on the hardwood her final two seasons.

She led the "Rock" in scoring in three-successive seasons, averaging 13.6 points in 1981-82; 17.8 points in 1982-83, and 19.8 points in 1983-84. She finished her collegiate career with 1,289 points and 540 rebounds, and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.

In 1986, she received a master of science in education from Northwest Missouri State, where she served as graduate assistant coach from 1984-86.

Dr. Sam Dixon returns for his second year with The University of Akron women's basketball program this fall. Prior to joining the Zips in 2010, he spent the previous eight seasons as the head coach at Furman University.

On the Zips' staff, Dixon serves as the team's academic, conditioning and defensive coordinator as well as oversees junior college and international recruiting efforts. Dixon also acts as the position coach for the team's power forwards and centers and assist with the program's overall recruiting, scouting and game preparation duties.

"I am very happy to announce the addition of Dr. Sam Dixon to our Akron basketball family," said UA head coach Jodi Kest said at the time of Dixon's hiring. "He brings a wealth of experience and will be an immediate asset to our program. Sam is well known and respected in our profession and, as a previous head coach, will provide great leadership and communication skills to our young ladies. We are very fortunate to have Sam join our Akron community."

Dixon, whose Furman coaching tenure marked the second longest in the history of the school's women's basketball program, compiled a 102-136 record, including a 63-89 Southern Conference mark.

Dixon is no stranger to the Mid-American Conference and Northeast Ohio as the native of Peoria, Ill., served as an assistant on the men's basketball staff at Northern Illinois from 1991-95 and Kent State in 1984-85 as part of an extensive college coaching career that began in 1981.

In his first three years at Furman, Dixon led the Paladins to a 52-34 record overall, including a 38-20 mark in SoCon play. During that span, he coached a SoCon Player of the Year, guard DeShara Shealey (2003), six first team All-SoCon performers, including two-time honoree guard Lee Stephens, who recently finished her career as the school's eighth all-time leading scorer (1,267 points), and 2009 NCAA 3-Point Shooting Champion, Melissa Liebschwager.

In addition, 49 Furman women's basketball players garnered SoCon Academic Honor Roll accolades during his tenure, including a program record nine selections for the 2003-04 season.

During his time at Furman, Dixon also served as an assistant coach for USA Basketball U20 and U21 World Championship teams. In the summer of 2006, he helped the U20 team to a victory over previously undefeated Brazil to capture the FIBA Americas Championship in Mexico City. The following year, he helped guide the U21 squad to a gold medal in Moscow with a victory over Australia.

Before landing at Furman, Dixon served as an assistant coach at Clemson (2000-02) and Arizona (1999). In fact, in his four years as a women's assistant coach, all four teams earned berths in the NCAA Tournament, including the 1998-99 Arizona Wildcats, who posted an 18-11 record with a 12-6 mark in the PAC-10.

In addition to coaching men's teams at NIU and KSU, Dixon also worked with men's programs at New Mexico (1996-97), Davidson (1986-87) and Northern Kentucky (1981-84). He was also the head men's basketball coach and golf coach at Denison University from 1988-91.

A 1979 physical education graduate of the College of Wooster, Dixon played four years for the Fighting Scots and in 1976 helped the team reach the NCAA South Regional finals. As a student-athlete he earned first-team All-Ohio Athletic Conference accolades in 1979, and was the team's most valuable player. A 1989 inductee into the Wooster College Hall of Fame, Dixon was also named All-Great Lakes Region and earned third team All-America status.

Dixon went on to earn a master's degree from Eastern Michigan University in 1980 and a Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico in 1997.

Melissa Jackson enters her fourth season on the Akron staff this fall. She serves as the program’s recruiting coordinator and offensive coordinator, working primarily with the guards. 

Jackson joined the UA staff after helping to guide the University of Delaware program to three postseason berths – including a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2007 – in four seasons while in the same role from 2004-05 to 2007-08.

“We are very happy to have Melissa join our Akron basketball family,” said UA head coach Jodi Kest on the day of Jackson's hiring. “She has played and worked for some of the best coaches in the country and we are excited to have Melissa be a part of helping us build our program.”

During Jackson’s time at Delaware, the Blue Hens captured a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular season championship in 2004-05, a pair of WNIT berths in 2005 and 2006, and earned an at-large bid to the Big Dance with a 26-6 record in 2007. Overall, UD posted a four-year record of 80-44 (.645) and won 71 percent of its conference games (51-21) during that stretch.

Jackson, who worked primarily with the guards at Delaware, helped mentor 2007 WNBA draftee (No. 18 overall) and current Detroit Shock guard Tyresa Smith and a pair of CAA defensive players of the year in Smith (’06, ’07) and Kyle DeHaven (’08). Jackson also played key roles in the recruitment of Jocelyn Bailey, a Top 100 player according to HoopGurlz.com in 2008, and Tesia Harris, the 14th-best swing guard in the nation according to the All-Star Girls Report in 2007.

Jackson played four seasons at the University of Richmond and earned a political science degree in May of 2004. She appeared in 50 career games as a guard with the Atlantic 10 Conference power and earned WNIT berths in both 2003 and 2004. Her ’04 squad advanced to the semifinals.

A former All-State selection at Hazleton Area High School in Hazleton, Pa., Jackson is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and has participated in a number of charitable programs, including Habitat for Humanity, Helping Hands and Adopt a Grandparent.

Jackson and her husband, Drew, currently reside in Bay Village.

Ayla Guzzardo returns for her second season with the Zips coaching staff after spending last year as a graduate assistant. She also spent her final two collegiate seasons as a member of the team.

"I am thrilled to promote Ayla to assistant coach," said Coach Kest. "Her familiarity with our program and the conference is a great asset to have on our staff. Ayla was an extremely passionate, enthusiastic and hard-working player. I have great confidence that she will bring those characteristics to our coaching staff."

The Hammond, La., native appeared in every game of her UA career, starting all of them in her senior season. She notched 133 assists in 2009-10, which ranks fourth all-time in program history. Her 238 career assists also put her eighth all-time in the record books.

In the Mid-American Conference, Guzzardo finished third in assists per game (4.2), fifth for assists/turnover ratio (1.3) and 15th in steals per game (1.7). Also during her senior season, she served as a team captain and was the recipient of the Coaches' Award. She helped lead the team to the Zips' second-ever MAC Tournament semifinals appearance and a postseason appearance in the Women's Basketball Invitational.

Prior to playing at Akron, Guzzardo was a student-athlete at Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa, Ala. and a member of the 7th-ranked junior college team in the nation in 2007-08. The squad won two conference championships with Guzzardo on the roster and she posted a career record of 62-9 as the starting point guard.

In 2010, Guzzardo completed her undergraduate degree in Business Organization and is currently pursuing a Master's in Sports Science and Coaching.

Local product Candace Smith, formerly Candace Wilson, returns to the Akron staff for her fourth season after a standout playing career at Central Michigan University. The Central Hower High School graduate currently serves as the team’s director of basketball operations.

Smith handles all the day-to-day business operations of the team with a primary focus on travel coordination and community outreach projects.

“Candace is very organized and another member of our staff who brings youth and enthusiasm to the table,” said UAhead coach Jodi Kest on the day of Wilson's hiring. “Additionally, she can relate to our players after having a successful playing career at Central Michigan.”

Smith, who was a four-year letterwinner with the Chippewas, averaged 10.2 points and 4.0 rebounds as a senior while posting a team-high 3-point field goal percentage of .398 (41-for-103), which was the eighth-best mark in the Mid-American Conference.

For her career, the sharp shooter netted 34.9 percent (97-for-278) of her attempts from beyond the arc for fifth on CMU’s all-time list. She also made her mark from the free throw line, finishing second in the record books by hitting 172-of-211 career attempts (.815). 

As a student-athlete, Smith was active in a number of community projects and belonged to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Divine Order Gospel Choir.

Smith received her business administration degree from Central Michigan in May of 2008 and her Master's of Business Administration from Akron in May 2011. She currently resides in Akron with her husband, Kenny.

Joining the staff as a graduate assistant and video coordinator, Tyler Tully hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a 2010 graduate of Ohio State with a degree in video production. While with the Buckeyes, he worked as a student manager and assistant video coordinator for the women's basketball team from 2008-10.

Prior to coming to Akron, Tully served as the video coordinator for Rutgers women's basketball during the 2010-11 season. He was responsible for all of the team's video needs, including opponent and self scouting, film exchange and assisting the office in day-to-day internal operations.

"We are very lucky to have Tyler on our staff," said Coach Kest. "He is very experienced, and his knowledge of video production will be a great asset to our team."