Sandy Collins - Associate Athletics Director / Event Operations (Sports Administrator: VB, MTennis) - Staff Directory

Staff Directory

Sandy Collins

Title:
Associate Athletics Director / Event Operations (Sports Administrator: VB, MTennis)
Email:
Phone:
(806) 834-2152

Sandy Collins has become a fixture at Texas Tech athletic events for more than two decades after arriving on campus in 1999 as an assistant women’s tennis coach before now serving as Associate Athletics Director for event operations.

Collins spent four years on the tennis courts, first as an assistant coach under Virginia Brown from 1999-02 before serving one year as the head women’s coach for the 2003 season. Collins was the seventh head women’s tennis coach in Texas Tech history following a stellar playing career of her own on the WTA Tour.

In several ways, her success on the court likely contributed to her achievements since moving to athletics administration as Collins was hired as a coordinator in the Athletics Ticket Office in July 2003. From there, Collins moved to event management where she now helps organize Texas Tech’s gameday operations for each of its 17 intercollegiate sports. Collins, in particular, is the gameday manager for each Lady Raider Basketball event and coordinates the activities around each home football Saturday where Texas Tech annually welcomes 60,000 fans inside Jones AT&T Stadium.

Collins is also essential in helping Texas Tech host postseason events as she annually submits bids to bring high-profile events such as the Big 12 Track and Field Championships, NCAA Golf Regionals and NCAA Baseball Regional and Super Regional rounds to Lubbock. In addition to her role in event management, Collins is the sport administrator for the men’s tennis and volleyball programs. Under her watch, the Red Raider volleyball program advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2021, marking the first time Texas Tech has made the postseason since the 2001 season.

Prior to beginning her coaching career, Collins was among the top tennis players in the world, rising to No. 17 in the rankings for both singles and doubles. She was a five-time Grand Slam doubles quarterfinalist after advancing deep at the U.S. Open in 1991 and 1993, the French Open in 1991 and the Australian Open in 1987 and 1988. Collins, who played professionally for 17 years, was a member of the World Team Tennis from 1982-94.

Collins, a native of San Bernardino, California, played tennis collegiately first at Odessa College (1976-78) and then UT Permian Basin (1978-80). She earned her bachelor’s degree in physical education from UTPB in 1980 and later added a master’s in sports management from California University in Pennsylvania in 2008.

Collins is the mother to Reagan Collins, who like her mother, excelled on the tennis courts, first at Coronado High School in Lubbock and then as a four-year letterwinner under Todd Petty at Texas Tech. She recently completed her second year of medical school at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center School of Medicine.