WASHINGTON - It is an honor that many coaches and players dream of, and on Saturday, June 6, Georgetown University men's and women's tennis Head Coach Gordie Ernst took his place among the greats as he was inducted into the USTA New England Tennis Hall of Fame.

This is the third Hall of Fame he has been inducted in as he was also inducted into the Cranston, Rhode Island Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Rhode Island Interscholastic League Hall of Fame in 2003.

He was one of three New Englanders to receive the honor, and was introduced by 2014-15 Hoya team captain Sophie Panarese (Milton, Mass./Milton Academy) and Tim Donovan, his roommate at Brown.

"Playing hockey and tennis for four years in the Rhode Island Interscholastic League not only gave me the opportunity to test my skills against tremendous competition," said Ernst, "but also gave me the chance to make so many friends among my opposing players and coaches throughout the country. I appreciate this wonderful Hall of Fame honor, and consider it the #1 highlight of my athletic career."

Prior to arriving on the Hilltop Ernst had coaching stints at Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania and Middlesex Prep School in Massachusetts. He arrived at Georgetown in 2006 and in his time with the Hoyas he has led both the men's and women's programs to a combined 152 wins and had more than 100 BIG EAST Academic All-Stars. Dating back to the 2009-10 season, Ernst has coached six All-BIG EAST performers in Charlie Caris, Lauren Greco, Andrew Bruhn, Stephanie Wetmore, Peter Beatty (Portland, Ore./Middlesex School) and Victoire Saperstein, who repeated as an honoree for the 2014-2015 season.

During the 2014-15 season, Ernst led the Hoya women to their fifth-straight 10+ win season (11-5) and the No. 5 seed at the 2015 BIG EAST Women's Tennis Championships. On the men's side, GU posted a record of 9-10 and was the No. 6 seed at the 2015 BIG EAST Men's Tennis Championships. From that position, the Hoyas upset the No. 3 DePaul Blue Demons, coming back from being down 3-0 to take the 4-3 victory.

Ernst was an impressive athlete of his own. The 1985 graduate of Cranston High School East in Rhode Island earned an unprecedented seven all-state selections, four in tennis and three in hockey, and won the state high school tennis title four times. He went undefeated (97-0) over his high school career, without dropping a set, and also won the doubles title with his brother three times.

The list of accomplishments dates back to his youth as well. Ernst was New England's 10, 12, 14 and 16-and-under tennis champion as the No. 1-ranked player in the state. At the age of 14, he was the youngest ever competitor to win the Rhode Island State Men's Championship and one year later, at 15, the youngest ever to win the Rhode Island Men's Metropolitan Tennis Championship. Reaching a ranking as high as No. 22 on a national scale, in junior national tournaments Ernst defeated 10 high school champions from 10 different states including Bryan Shelton who was a Top 50 ATP player and the national high school champion.

On the ice, Ernst was just as impressive. Scoring 60 or more points in each of his three seasons of play, during the 1984 playoffs Ernst set a state playoff scoring record with 19 points. In 1985 The Providence Journal named Ernst the Honor Roll Boy, given to the top men's and women's student-athletes in the state. That same year Ernst was drafted by the NHL's Minnesota North Stars, but declined to attend Brown University, where he also played both tennis and hockey for four years.

Following his graduation from Brown in 1990, Ernst played tennis at the professional level for three years during which he achieved the No. 1 ranking in the state of Rhode Island and won the R.I. Metropolitan Tennis Championship (the state's open tournament) a record six times.