Missouri State

Ellie Burger returned to the Missouri State women's tennis coach as the program's head coach on June 1, 2022.

In her second season leading the Bears, Burger coached MoState to a winning season since 2021 and the first home winning record since 2019. The Bears qualified for the MVC tournament for the first time since 2021. With 13 wins in the season, the Bears had their most wins since 2003 and most wins in one season since the program was resurrected in 2014. For the 2023-24 season, Burger had four Bears named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete team. Sandra Lukacova was named to the All-MVC first team for the No. 6 flight and Nicole Ross was named to the All-MVC second team for the No. 5 flight. Four Bears were named to the CSC Academic All-District team. At the MVC Individual Tournament, Lukacova landed a second-place finish in the No. 6 flight.

During Burger's first season (2022-23), the Bears won seven more duals than the previous year. MoState finished 7-15 (2-6 MVC) in the spring, and Burger's first-career victory came against Drury (Feb. 3) in a decisive 4-3 win. Missouri State narrowly missed the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, finishing seventh in the regular season. Under Burger, seniors Diana Cabrera and Alyson Piskulic were named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete team, and four Bears landed on the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team. In the fall, Cabrera earned second in No. 1 singles at the 2022 MVC Individual Championships, the doubles pair of Mary Houston and Silva Avakian took fourth in No. 3 doubles and Avakian grabbed fifth in No. 6 singles.

Originally from Chesterfield, Mo., Burger played tennis for the Bears from 2017-21 and was a three-time All-MVC performer. She ranks third in program history for career singles winning percentage (.782) with a 43-18 career record.

After graduating from Missouri State, Burger has remained active in the sport of tennis, continuing as an instructor, coach and administrator at the Forest Lake Tennis Club in St. Louis.

Burger captained the 2020-21 MoState tennis squad, leading the Bears to a 12-10 overall record and a runner-up finish in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. She was also a key part of the 2018 MVC Tournament championship squad that advanced to the NCAA Tournament under coach Mallory Weber.

Individually, Burger won a conference title in 2019 at No. 3 singles, becoming just the 13^th Bear to win a singles flight in the Missouri Valley. She also earned All-MVC honors in 2018, 2019 and 2021, and was named as the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Female Student-Athlete of the Year by her fellow MSU student-athletes in 2020-21.

Off the court, Burger was a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete selection in 2020 and 2021. She also served on Missouri State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee from 2018-21 and was also Missouri State’s representative on the MVC SAAC. Burger served on the Legal and Regulatory Matters subcommittee as part of her MVC SAAC duties. She earned recognition on the Missouri State University Dean’s List five times before graduating in 2021 with a double major in General Business and Modern Language-Spanish.