July 21, 2005

BOCA RATON, FL - Florida Atlantic University Athletic Director Craig Angelos has announced the hiring of Mary Dailey as the women's tennis head coach. Dailey comes to FAU with over two decades of collegiate and professional experience both as a player and as a coach. She is a former NCAA All-American and played on the WTA Tour.

"We are very pleased to be able to attract a women's tennis coach of Mary's caliber," said Angelos. "With her leadership and vision, we believe she can make FAU tennis a national contender in the near future. We are looking forward to her success."

Dailey most recently has served as the head professional at the Newport Bay Club in Boca Raton. Her previous collegiate head coaching stint was at Illinois-Chicago, where she led the Flames to back-to-back Horizon League championships in 2000 and 2001. During her two seasons, UIC was perfect against conference foes, both during the regular season and in post-season action.

Prior to UIC, Dailey served as an assistant coach and, later, an interim head coach at Texas Tech. She held the same position at Slippery Rock where she was named the College Coach of the Year, Allegheny Mountain Division, by the United States Professional Tennis Registry.

She coached Nicole Arendt, a former WTA Tour player, to the doubles semifinals at the 1994 Wimbledon. Dailey continues to play on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Vets Tour where she is a two-time world champion in doubles.

Dailey takes over an FAU program that has won the Atlantic Sun Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament two of the past three years. She is currently concentrating her efforts on recruiting to solidify the 2005-06 roster.