Aug. 20, 2001

Chicago, Ill. - The University of Illinois at Chicago Athletic Department found the right person to take the reigns of the Flames' five-time league champion women's tennis program on Monday as Shannon Tully was hired as head coach. Tulley replaces Mary Dailey, who resigned from her post two weeks ago citing personal reasons.

"I am very excited about this opportunity," said Tully, who was a four-year letterwinner on the courts at the University of Wisconsin where she graduated in 1996. "I really enjoyed my collegiate tennis experience, so I'm enthused about giving something back."

Tully comes to UIC from the Dayton, Ohio area where she has spent the last five years working as a teacher at Miami Valley Middle School while also assuming tennis professional duties at the South Regency Tennis Center in Miamisburg, Ohio since 1999. Tully gained the bulk of her coaching experience serving two seasons (1997, 1998) as the head varsity coach at Archbishop High School in Kettering, Ohio.

"I want things to be very structured," said Tully of her coaching style. "I want us to be in great shape and most importantly to be cohesive as a group. I've heard nothing but great things about this team and I just want to help take it to another level. This is a great city and a great university and I think if we work hard everything will fall into place."

Tully, who is the third coach in the last four years for the Flames, will take the reigns of a UIC squad which returns all but one player to its lineup this season from a team which finished the year with a 15-9 record. The Flames captured their fifth straight league title last season and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year, falling in the opening round to ninth-ranked Northwestern.