NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State head men's tennis coach Mark Klysner announced the hiring of Roman Trkulja as the program's graduate assistant coach Tuesday.
"I am extremely excited to be adding Roman to our staff, as he has been someone who I have followed for years, leading back to his junior tennis days," Klysner said. "When he enquired about the position, it was an easy decision for me to hire him. He comes here with a wealth of experience playing for a top-25 team like Penn State. I believe with his background, he will be a tremendous asset to the program and will have a lot to share with the group of guys we have this year."
A 2016 graduate of Penn State, Trkulja served as captain of the Nittany Lions' men's tennis team. He also worked as the assistant tennis professional at Advantage International Tennis Academy for the past two years. Trkulja was selected to represent Canada in the 2015 World University Games, held in Gwangju, South Korea. In 2014, Trkulja finished among the top-three in the Big Ten conference, while also advancing to the round of the 32 at the NCAA Team Championships.
"I would like to thank head coach Mark Klysner for giving me the opportunity to work with this team and to help the guys reach their goals," Trkulja said. "I am very excited to start working with everyone, and I am looking forward to having a great year."
In high school, the Toronto, Ontario, native was a member of the Canadian National Team. Trkulja was a three-time International Tennis Federation (ITF) champion and the Canadian National Champion in singles and doubles. As a member of the Canadian National Training Center, he acquired seven Ontario Provincial championships and was a six-time Canadian National Championships doubles finalist.
Not only was Trkulja a standout on the court but also in the classroom. He received a certificate of academic excellence from the student-athlete advisory board and was an Academic All-Big Ten selection in 2013-14. The business major graduated from Penn State's Smeal College of business with a 3.07 grade-point average.
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