Kelly Chen is entering her fourth season as Vanderbilt assistant coach after being hired in June 2023.  

The Cerritos, California, native joined the Commodores after serving as an assistant coach at Furman, where she helped the Paladins achieve an undefeated regular season record in conference play. Chen was previously as a volunteer assistant coach at Northwestern. 

She competed at Duke from 2018–2022 and was a five-time ITA All-American. Additionally, she earned Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year and qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship in 2018, 2019 and 2021. During her time as a Blue Devil, Chen was named caption, ranked as high as fifth nationally in singles and named to the NCAA All-Tournament team in 2022. 

Chen earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in sociology.