Carol Matsuzaki
Carol Matsuzaki
Title: Head Coach
Phone: 617-253-7665
Email: handy@mit.edu
Year: 16th at MIT
College: MIT '95

A five-time (1999, 2000, 2001, 2008, 2012) NEWMAC Women’s Tennis Coach of the Year, and the 2007 ITA Northeast Regional Coach of the Year, Carol Matsuzaki has guided the MIT program for 15 seasons. The winningest coach in MIT women’s tennis history, she has compiled a 180-87 dual match record, with her teams recording winning records in all but one season.

In 2012-13 Matsuzaki guided MIT to its fifth NEWMAC title, its first since 2002, and its third appearance as a team in the NCAA Championships where the Engineers win their first ever first-round match. From 1999-02 Matsuzaki steered the Engineers to four consecutive NEWMAC Championship titles and has coached numerous individuals to appearances at the NCAA Championships, including Lauren Quisenberry in 2011 and 2013. Following the 2006-07 season, she was named the Division III Northeast Region Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association Women’s Coach of the Year.

Matsuzaki graduated from MIT in 1995 with a degree in biology. She captained the varsity women's tennis team her senior year and was the NEW 8 Conference Athlete of the Year in 1995. She was ranked as high as #46 in the country in singles and #21 in the country in doubles, as well as playing on a team ranked #11 in the country.  In addition to varsity tennis, she played on the varsity men's squash team and was a 2 time qualifier for the national individual women's tournament.

Matsuzaki received her graduate degree in sports psychology from Boston University in 1997. In 2004, she authored the book “Tennis Fundamentals”. Part of Human Kinetics’ Sports Fundamentals series, “Tennis Fundamentals” teaches the basic skills and tactics to help readers participate in the sport quickly.

Mason Astley
Mason Astley
Title: Assistant Coach
Year: 3rd at MIT
College: Swarthmore College '99

Mason Astley will be in his third season on the MIT women’s tennis staff in 2013-14.  He came to the Engineers from Emerson College, where he was the men's and women's head tennis coach for three years.

Astley compiled a 46-28 overall record at Emerson, including an 11-3 campaign with the women's team in 2010-11. He was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for 2009.

Astley started teaching tennis at a summer tennis camp while in high school, and then matriculated at Swarthmore College, contributing to both the tennis and soccer teams. He earned a degree in English Literature and started working with the Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis Center in Philadelphia after graduation. That rekindled his love of teaching tennis and he began teaching and training at a club near his hometown of Worcester, Mass. He then traveled to Osaka, Japan where he taught English at a private language school. Upon returning, Mason briefly coached at Worcester Polytechnic Institute before settling in at the Mount Auburn Club in Watertown for three years.

Deciding that he had a lot to learn about the mental side of tennis, Mason then enrolled in the Boston University Graduate School of Education, where he earned a Master's Degree in counseling psychology (sport psychology concentration). Since then he has been consulting with athletes from many sports, but mostly tennis, including top-ten U.S. juniors and WTA touring professionals.

Dan Griffin
Dan Griffin
Title: Assistant Coach
Year: 6th at MIT
College: Connecticut College

Daniel Griffin will be in his sixth year as an assistant coach with the Engineers, including serving as the interim head coach during the spring of 2010. His primary responsibilities include match preparation and on-court coaching during practices and matches.

A local product, Griffin played high school tennis at the Thayer Academy in Braintree, Mass. before a brief training stint at the Saddlebrook Tennis Academy in Tampa, Fla. He continued his career at Connecticut College and upon graduation Griffin played competitively with his successes generating regional and national rankings.

Griffin is a certified member of the United States Professional Tennis Association and works at the Harvard University Business School. He is currently pursuing dual master's degrees from Suffolk University in political science and public administration.