Wins have piled up more often than not this season for Missouri State tennis, just two years removed from a season when it never even happened once. “We only really added two people to the team from the 0-19 program,” said Missouri State Head Coach Ellie Burger.
It’s no coincidence the Bears’ only winless season in the last seven years was the season Burger wasn’t with the program.
“She handled the transition really well from being my teammate to being my coach,” said MSU senior Mary Houston, who was Ellie’s teammate three years ago.
Burger ranks third in program history in winning percentage as a player. As a first-year coach, she turned the winless program into a seven-match winner. Now in year two, the Bears already have 13 wins, breaking the record for most wins since the program was resurrected ten years ago.
“My favorite thing about Ellie is she sees us as people and she wants us to be our best outside of tennis too,” Houston said. “And I think that is something a lot of coaches miss and they just care about you as a player.”
“That’s one of the biggest things I take most pride in,” Burger said. “Understanding who they are as individuals and really making them feel like they’re seen and understood.”
Ellie knows why that’s so important, as the younger sister of former Bears baseball star turned Big Leaguer Jake Burger, she stepped on campus just a month after he left.
“That was kind of the mindset from day one,” Ellie said. “I’m going to do everything I can to be the most successful person I can be. Having an older brother you’re kind of always chasing his tail but also understanding in your own right you’re doing something different. Something special as well.”
When they aren’t attending Jake’s MLB games Ellie’s parents Mike and Shannon make the trek from their home in St. Louis to hit the road with Ellie. “We wish we had bought a house here in 2014 if we had known we’d be here for a decade,” said Mike, with a laugh.
Ellie’s mindset is something they’re proud to see in their daughter. “It would be so easy to have some jealousy that she’s not getting the attention,” Mike said. “Even though she’s doing great things too. So I think that really says a lot about her character and I think that comes through when you watch the girls play.”
Stepping out of her brother’s shadow to do for this tennis program what he helped do for Bears baseball.
