Women's Tennis
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- thomaslilly@creighton.edu
- Phone:
- (402) 738-0987
The 2019-20 season marked Tom Lilly's 23rd full season at the helm of Creighton’s women’s and men’s tennis programs. Lilly has been a part of Bluejay tennis for 30 years. He spent five years as a player, redshirting one season and later served three years as an assistant coach for both teams.
He took over as interim head coach in the spring of 1997. Lilly was later named head coach of both the men’s and women’s teams at the end of that season.
Lilly has 462 coaching victories during his campaign coaching both men's and women's tennis.
Tom helped lead senior Ashley Ishimura to All-BIG EAST honors for the second consecutive season as the Bluejay women posted a 9-13 record in the spring of 2019, including victories against three BIG EAST opponents. The women's squad claimed an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team award, while eight individuals also claimed ITA Scholar-Athlete status.
Lilly led the women's program to a 15-8 record during the 2018 spring season, the team's best record since 1993 when the team finished 17-9. Ishimura earned a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team and the Bluejays finished 1-1 at the BIG EAST Championships.
Additionally, The Creighton women's squad claimed an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team award. Six individuals also claimed ITA Scholar-Athlete status.
He picked up his 200th victory as the women's coach with a victory over UMKC on April 9, 2016. He holds a 249-281 overall record in 23 completed seasons at the helm of the women's team.
The Bluejay women's team notched their first BIG EAST Championships win with a 4-0 victory over Providence during the 2016 postseason. Additionally, the team and five individuals earned academic recognition from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
Lilly directed the women's team to an 10-13 mark in the 2014-15 season and finished ninth in the BIG EAST. In addition, senior Jennie Hartjes earned a 2015 Capital One Academic All-America Division I Women’s At-Large Third Team honor as voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Hartjes' Academic All-America honor marked the first by a Bluejay tennis player in school history.
He also had success coaching eight MVC All-Conference players, including Hartjes in 2013. Hartjes also earned All-BIG EAST recognition in 2015 - the first honor earned by a CU women's tennis player from the conference. Hartjes finished her stellar career at No. 3 all-time on the CU women’s tennis program wins list with 134 total victories.
As a player, Lilly racked up 128 victories, which is good for third on the Creighton all-time career wins list. Sixty-four of his wins came in singles play, placing him fifth on the all-time singles charts. The other half of his wins came in doubles, a number that ties him for second all-time on the Creighton charts. In his first two years Lilly held down the No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles positions.
As a sophomore, he tied the school record for the most combined wins at the singles and doubles positions with 39. He also holds the school record for the most doubles wins in a season at the No. 2 position with 18 wins. Lilly was voted the team’s Most Improved Player both as a freshman and sophomore.
After sitting out a season as a medical redshirt, Lilly returned for his junior and senior seasons. He competed at the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles positions both years and is in the school record books at both positions. At the No. 1 singles position, he finished second in school history with 18 wins during his senior season.
As a junior, Lilly broke the school record at the No. 1 doubles position with 17 wins (he later coached Billy Paluch and J.T. Christian to a new record of 21 wins during the 2009-2010 season). He was the team’s captain in his final two seasons and was voted the Most Valuable Player as a junior. He graduated from Creighton in 1993 with a degree in theology.
For his collegiate accomplishments, Lilly was named to the MVC All-Centennial Team in 2007. He was the only male player from Creighton selected to the team and coached the only Bluejay women's player on the list, Katie Chiu. Lilly also has served as a member of the Central Region Advisory Committee for NCAA Division I women’s tennis.
During the summer months, Lilly also serves as the head tennis professional at Oak Hills Country Club in Omaha. He is married to former Bluejay tennis player Jean (Fougeron) Lilly, who serves as the assistant coach for the women’s squad. The couple has a son, TJ, and a daughter, Kaitlyn.
