Back for his fourth season since taking over the reins of the Clayton State women's tennis program is head coach Tamas Szabados. The Salgotarjan, Hungary native is the fourth head coach in the history of women’s tennis at Clayton State, and already he's moving the Lakers back to a national level at NCAA Division II.

Last season, Szabados took a young Laker squad to the second round of the NCAA Division II National Tournament and a respectable 11-7 overall mark. He produced the Lakers' third straight doubles team to advance to the ITA Division II National Finals. This came off the heels of one of Clayton State's best seasons ever in 2008.

Szabados took the Lakers to new heights that season, finishing a season-best 20-6 on the season and tied for second place in the Peach Belt Conference at 8-1. Clayton State finished third overall in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II National Tournament - the team's first NCAA bid since 2005.

Clayton State finished the season ranked 12th in the nation in Division II, the program's highest ranking to finish the season in six seasons.

In addition, Szabados also produced two Division II All-Americans in the process with the doubles team of Anna Redecsi and Julia Chergova. That duo won the ITA Mid-Atlantic Regional for a second straight season, and advanced to the ITA Division II national semifinals in doubles.

Playing one of the more challenging schedules in the nation in 2007, Szabados paced Clayton State to a 10-11 overall record, including a respectable 7-4 in the Peach Belt Conference. Combined with the strong record and stellar schedule, Szabados' first Laker squad finished 15th in the nation in the final ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) Division II National Poll.

In addition, Szabados also produced two Division II All-Americans in the process with the doubles team of Redecsi and Chergova that won the ITA Mid-Atlantic Regional and advanced to the ITA Division II national finals in doubles.

Overall, Szabados is 41-24 in his three seasons at the Laker helm with a total of six Division II All-Americans in the process.

Szabados came to Clayton State after a successful six-yea stint as both a men's and women's assistant coach at neighboring NCAA Division III power Emory in Atlanta. He started out in 2000 as both the women’s junior varsity coach and men’s assistant coach. During that time, Emory has won the last four NCAA Division III national championships in women’s tennis, and two of the last three Division III national titles in men’s tennis.

In addition to his coaching duties, Szabados also served as a Physical Education Instructor at Emory.

One aspect that attracted Szabados to Clayton State was his familiarity with the Peach Belt Conference from his playing career at Peach Belt rival Armstrong Atlantic. He played for the Pirates in 1998, helping lead Armstrong Atlantic to the NCAA Division II national quarterfinals with a 14-3 mark overall and 7-1 in the Peach Belt. That season, he went 7-6 in singles and 7-5 in doubles.

Szabados earned his Bachelor’s Degree in General Studies from Armstrong Atlantic in 2000.