Staff Directory
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- (402) 738-0987
The 2024-25 season marks Tom Lilly's 28th full season at the helm of Creighton’s women’s tennis program. Lilly has been a part of Bluejay tennis for 35 years. He spent five years as a player, redshirting one season and later served three years as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's 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 served 26.5 years as the Bluejay head coach before stepping down on June 9, 2023. He owned a program-record 241 victories as the Bluejay men's head coach. In total, Lilly owns 542 wins (including 301 women's victories), which ranks fourth in the history in Creighton Athletics in all sports. Lilly picked up his 500th career triumph when the Creighton women beat Air Force on Jan. 28, 2023.
In 2022-23, Lilly lead the Bluejays women's tennis team to a 17-8 overall record, the team's best record since 1993 when the team also finished with a 17 wins. CU earned earned the No. 3 seed at the BIG EAST Championships Presented by JEEP, where the Bluejays advanced to the finals for the first time in program history after earning a heroic 4-3 come-from-behind win over DePaul in the semifinals. Malvika Shukla earned First Team All-BIG EAST honors while Valerie Negin claimed Second Team All-BIG EAST honors. Tom and Jean Lilly were also named the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year, marking the first time in league history a tennis coach picked up Coach of the Year honors on both the men's and women's side in the same season.
In his final season as the Creighton men's tennis head coach, Lilly guided the Bluejays to a 13-7 overall record, the teams most wins in a single season since 1999-2000 when the team also won 13 matches. The Bluejays earned the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST Championships Presented by JEEP, advancing to the semifinals for the first time in team history. Creighton also cracked the national ranking for the first time in 2022-23, reaching as high as No. 64 during its three-week stay in the polls. That helped earn Lilly and graduate assistant Brady Draheim Co-BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
Under the direction of Lilly, Creighton has won 14 straight All-Academic Team Awards in men's tennis from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Lilly has mentored two College Sports Communicators Academic All-Americans and 18 selections to the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete First Team in men's tennis. He's also coached seven men to All-BIG EAST accolades, including 2023 First Team All-BIG EAST selection Matthew Lanahan, and four others to All-MVC acclaim.
In 2022, Lilly guided the Bluejays women's squad to their sixth straight BIG EAST Tournament Quarterfinal (excludes 2020), while recording a 12-8 overall record as Valerie Negin became the first Bluejay to earn BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors. Kate Krueger was also named to the All-BIG EAST First Team for the second consecutive season after recording a winning record at the top singles and doubles slots. The 2022 men's team posted a 8-10, including a perfect 4-0 mark at home.
Lilly led the women's squad to a 10-6 record during the spring of 2021. The Bluejay women posted five victories at home, including a 5-2 win against BIG EAST foe, Marquette. The men's team recorded a 6-7 mark, while both teams did not compete during the fall of 2020 because of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
He led the women's team to an 11-4 mark in the spring of 2020, including 6-0 at home and seven consecutive victories before the season ended on March 12. Lilly also guided the men's squad to a 6-5 record including wins in five of the final six matches of the shortened season which finished before the conference tournaments because of COVID-19.
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.
The 2019 men's team recorded a 9-10 record as Nick Campbell became the first freshman in men's program history to earn all-conference honors. The men's squad claimed an ITA All-Academic Team award and four 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.
The 2018 spring season marked the fifth consecutive season in which the men's program recorded double-digit wins. The Bluejays went 10-10 last season, including a 4-2 record at home. Brooks Kendall claimed a spot on the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America Division I Men's At-Large Second Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Kendall also earned All-BIG EAST Second Team honors. The men's squad claimed an ITA All-Academic Team award. Six individuals also claimed ITA Scholar-Athlete status.
Lilly led the women's team to a 13-11 record during the 2016-17 campaign, including a BIG EAST regular-season win over Providence. Creighton also finished 1-2 during the BIG EAST Championships to finish tied for seventh in the league.
The Creighton men's tennis team capped off the 2016-17 season with a 10-11 record, and tied for fifth at the BIG EAST Championships. Senior Harrison Lang was named to the All-BIG EAST team and earned a spot on the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America Division I Men's At-Large Second Team. The men's team also claimed an ITA All-Acadmic Team Award and seven individuals were honored. Lang became the first All-Conference selection from the Bluejay men's tennis team since Billy Paluch earned a unanimous selection in 2014.
The men's team finished 10-10 during the 2015-16 season, including Creighton's first league tournament win since 2009. Individually, Lang earned CoSIDA Academic All-District VII Men's At-Large First Team. Additionally, the team and eight individuals earned academic awards from the ITA.
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 picked up his 200th victory as the women's coach with a victory over UMKC on April 9, 2016 and owned 214 victories in his first 20 completed seasons at the helm of the women's team.
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 fourth 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 then 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 21 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 and coaching 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.
