GAMBIER, Ohio -- Kenyon College head tennis coach Scott Thielke recently announced the hiring of Austen Childs and Alvin Cheng as the program's two new assistant coaches. Childs and Cheng replace Lynne Schneebeck, who moved on to concentrate on her platform tennis career, and Ross Wilson, who was hired at the University of San Diego.

Childs joins the staff after a brilliant NCAA Division I career at the University of Louisville, where he graduated in 2011. A native of New Zealand, Childs had a 119-50 singles record with the Cardinals. He was the only two-time singles All-American in the program's history and he capped his senior season by being named the BIG EAST Men's Tennis Player of the Year for the third consecutive season. He led the Cardinals to their second-straight conference title and also earned the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Sports Excellence award.

Childs was a four-year participant in the NCAA singles championship and during his junior year he was the national runner-up. During that 2009-10 season, he was ranked as high as No. 8 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. His total of 119 careers singles wins tied the Louisville record and his 107 doubles wins set the Cardinals' standard. In 2010-11, he also achieved All-American status in doubles play and garnered a ranking as high as No. 16.

In 2009-10, he was selected to New Zealand's Davis Cup team and logged the deciding point in his country's 3-2 win over Pakistan.   
  
Cheng comes to Kenyon with over 14 years of playing experience and nearly eight years of coaching experience. In 2005, Cheng got his coaching career underway as a men's and women's assistant at Eastern Kentucky University, where he stayed on board for half a year. In the summer of that same year, he was hired as the head men's and women's coach at NCAA Division II Coker College in Hartsville, South Carolina. While at Coker, his 2006-07 women's team was recognized as an ITA All-Academic squad and both of his teams set the program record for wins in a season.

After five years at Coker, Cheng moved to New Albany, Ohio and became the staff professional at the New Albany Tennis Center, where he taught lessons, planned out practice programs, and also served as the main resource for high school juniors looking to take their games to the collegiate level.

Cheng is a 2003 graduate of Eastern Kentucky, where he was a four-year letter-winner for the Colonels tennis team. He was a two-time team captain and twice voted the team's most valuable player.