Danielle Lund McNamara named Women’s Tennis head coach

AUSTIN, Texas – Danielle Lund McNamara, a former Yale head women's tennis coach who led the Bulldogs to four NCAA tournament appearances and four Ivy League titles, has been named the head women's tennis coach at The University of Texas. The announcement was made Wednesday by UT Women's Athletics Director Chris Plonsky. McNamara replaces Patty Fendick-McCain, who announced her retirement from college coaching in June after nine seasons with the Longhorns.

"I am extremely grateful for the opportunity Chris Plonsky has given me to come work with the women's tennis program at The University of Texas," McNamara said. "UT has such an amazing athletics department with tremendous resources available for student-athletes.

"There are only a few places at which I could have considered returning to college coaching," McNamara added. "The combination of the strong women's tennis program, outstanding academics and UT's reputation in college athletics attracted me to this position. "I'm really excited to work with these UT student-athletes who are extremely dedicated students and successful tennis players that compete at the highest level in Division I women's tennis. That is extremely exciting to me."

McNamara totaled a 124-49 overall record, including an impressive 48-8 mark in Ivy League matches, during her eight seasons at Yale (2007-14). The two-time Wilson/ITA Northeast Region Coach of the Year (2011 and 2013) led Yale to its first ever NCAA tournament appearance in 2008. Yale posted its first NCAA tournament match victory under McNamara in 2011 and added a second NCAA tournament victory the following season. McNamara led the Bulldogs to a program-best No. 18 ITA national team ranking during the 2012 season.

In 2008, McNamara led the Bulldogs to their first Ivy League title since 1989 with a perfect 7-0 mark in conference play. McNamara led Yale to three additional Ivy League championships from 2011 through 2013 before stepping down at the end of the 2014 season.

"I learned last January that I was expecting my second child," McNamara explained. "I made the difficult decision to leave Yale and leaving coaching after the end of the season for personal family reasons. I felt that to do the job well anywhere that you sacrifice a lot as a coach. Given that I was expecting to deliver my second child in August, I felt like it was time for me to step away. I stepped aside knowing that I wanted to return to college coaching some day. This position at Texas was one of those jobs that could have never opened again in my lifetime. Working at Texas is a huge opportunity that I could not pass up."

"We're very, very pleased with the hiring of Danielle Lund McNamara," Plonsky said. "Danielle is a championship-minded coach. She has been a tremendous representative of tennis throughout her career. Danielle wants to win a national championship, and she believes we have the potential to do that here at UT. She is an outstanding leader. Danielle will be making a transition this fall as a volunteer coach before assuming her full-time position on Nov. 17. We're very appreciative of our current interim head coach Darija Klaic, who has done a terrific job. I'm confident in a great transition as we close out the fall season."

Yale accumulated 24 All-Ivy League singles selections and 11 all-conference doubles honorees with McNamara at the helm. In 2010, McNamara mentored Vicky Brook and Lindsay Clark, who became the school's first doubles quarterfinalists at the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, one of three national championship events on the college tennis calendar. McNamara assembled five consecutive top-25 national recruiting classes from 2009-13 at Yale, including TennisRecruiting.net's eighth-ranked classes in 2010 and 2012.

McNamara's student-athletes excelled in the classroom at Yale, accumulating 22 ITA Scholar-Athlete awards and earning the ITA All-Academic Team designation each of the last six seasons.

"Championships have been won here before, and it remains apparent that you can win at a high level here with The University of Texas women's tennis program," McNamara said. "The ultimate goal is to contend for NCAA and Big 12 championships year in and year out, but I think it is important that we're developing great students and people along the way. I firmly believe it's not just about the wins and losses. I'm excited about the developmental aspect of the position - working with driven and talented young women and having a positive influence on them. That is a huge goal – to make sure we are developing the total student-athlete over the course of four years."

McNamara served as an assistant coach at Yale for the 2005-06 season before taking over the program the following season. McNamara competed on the WTA Tour from 2002-05 but remained involved in college tennis as a volunteer assistant at Boston University during the 2004-05 season. McNamara served as an assistant coach at her alma mater, The University of Michigan, during the 2001-02 season.

The former Danielle Lund became the first player in the history of Michigan tennis to play in all three national championship events – the ITA All-American Championships, the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships and the NCAA Championships.

The Big Ten Conference selected McNamara as its Sportswoman of the Year in 1999. The All-Big Ten selection was ranked as high as No. 28 in singles and No. 8 in doubles, and she ranks ninth on Michigan's all-time wins list with 80 victories. McNamara helped Michigan to its first Big Ten championship in 1997. She went on to compete in the doubles draw at the 1998 NCAA Championships.

A native of Leominster, Massachusetts, McNamara earned bachelor's degrees in economics and organizational studies from Michigan in 2001. McNamara and her husband, Christian, have two children: Grace and Lucas.

**Danielle Lund McNamara: year-by-year results as a head coach**
Season	Overall Record	NCAA Champs. Finish	Final ITA Ranking	Ivy League Finish
2014	14-8		49	2nd
2013	17-4	Round of 64	36	T-1st
2012	20-4	Round of 32	29	1st
2011	22-5	Round of 32	31	T-1st
2010	16-6		46	3rd
2009	14-6		50	T-3rd
2008	11-8	Round of 64	74	1st
2007	10-8		73	2nd

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics

Danielle Lund McNamara named Women’s Tennis head coach