The Bietau File
Hometown: Rockford, Ill. • Alma Mater: Doane College ‘79

Coaching Career: K-State head tennis coach (1984-present)... Hutch CC head tennis coach (1980-84)... Winningest coach in program history... 1989 and 2000 Conference Coach of the Year... 1996 ITA Region Coach of the Year... 3 NCAA Tournament Appearances... Coached 2 ITA All-Americans

Family: Married to Connie... Has three sons, Brad, Drew, and Justin; and one daughter, Kayla.


Kansas State women’s tennis coach Steve Bietau enters his 25th season as coach of the Wildcats. Bietau eclipsed the 200-win plateau in 2006 and his teams have won 220 dual matches in his 24 seasons as the leader of the Kansas State program. The continued success of his teams both on and off the court show Bietau’s knowledge and commitment to Kansas State University and the Wildcat tennis program.

In 2003, the Wildcats had the best season of any Bietau team and posted a school-record 15 victories and a recordtying seven Big 12 wins en route to reaching the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. KState upset No. 9 Virginia Commonwealth and No. 16 Northwestern before bowing out to No. 5 USC in the regional semifinals. It marked the third time the Wildcats have advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Kansas State finished the season at No. 32 in the ITA final poll and were ranked No. 1 in the ITA Central Region poll.

The success in 2003 was nothing new for Bietau, who has twice been named the conference coach of the year (1989, 2000) and ITA Central Region Coach of the Year (1990, 1996) during his 19 years in Manhattan.

Bietau is also committed to his athletes’ success in the classroom and over the years he has coached eight ITA Scholar-Athletes, three Verizon Academic All-America and All-District selections, including Sedlmajerova in 2002 and 2003, and 16 members to the All-Big 12 Academic team, including a school-record four members in 2003. In addition, his 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002 and 2003 squads each were named ITA All-Academic teams with a combined GPA of over 3.4.

Prior to coming to Kansas State in 1984-85, Bietau served as head men’s and women’s tennis coach at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College from 1980-84. There, he led Hutchinson to a 13th place finish at the National Junior College Championships in 1984. While at Hutchinson, Bietau also spent time as a teaching professional at Prairie Dunes Tennis Club in Hutchinson. Bietau, a native of Rockford, Ill., prepped at Rockford West (Ill.) High School and attended Rockvalley (Ill.) Junior College before transferring to Doane (Neb.) College where he graduated in 1979. During his playing career at Doane, Bietau qualified for the NAIA National Tennis Tournament three times.

Bietau resides in Manhattan with his wife Connie, their three sons, Brad, Drew and Justin, and their daughter Kayla.