Covenant Tennis Names Butler Graduate Assistant

Thursday, July 20, 2017

The Covenant men's and women's tennis programs have announced Arielle Butler as the graduate assistant coach for head coach John Hirte. Butler will assist with both programs in her role.

"I am very excited to join the athletic staff at Covenant and to have the opportunity to work at such a beautiful campus," Butler said.

"I'm thrilled to have Arielle join our staff next year," Hirte said. "She is an accomplished four-year collegiate player who has strong passions for player development, team tennis, and discipleship.

I'm confident that her experience and enthusiasm for coaching and mentorship make her a great fit for our program, and we're excited to have her up on the mountain."

Butler was a successful NCAA Division II player at Harding University in Searcy, Ark. She was a two-time All-Great American Conference player and helped the team to a conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2014. Butler compiled 58 career singles wins, which ranks her 14th in program history, to go along with 41 career doubles victories.

"One of the things that drew me in about Covenant was the motto, 'In All Things Christ Preeminent,'" added Butler. "I hope to be an example of this motto to the tennis players and to keep furthering the success the program has already had, both on and off the court. Coach Hirte has done an impressive job in establishing competitive teams on both the men's and women's side and I plan on doing my best to help the program reach new heights."

Off the court, Butler also excelled at Harding. She was a two-time recipient of the Great American Conference's Crafton Tull Elite Scholar Athlete award and a three-time Academic All-Conference honoree. Additionally, Butler was an ITA Scholar Athlete in 2015 and was voted to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team in 2016.

Butler graduated with a degree in health and kinesiology from Harding in the spring of 2017. She is pursuing a master's degree in sports administration from Belhaven University.