Danielle McNamara has led the Yale women’s tennis program to two Ivy League Championships, two NCAA Tournament appearances and three ECAC Indoor Team Championships in her first five seasons as the Bulldogs’ head coach. For her efforts in 2011, which included leading the Bulldogs to the first NCAA Tournament match win in school history, McNamara was named ITA Northeast Region Coach of the Year. The 2011 season was also highlighted by an Ivy League Championship and the team’s third straight ECAC Indoor Team Championship. Yale’s ITA ranking climbed as high as No. 23 in the country, the highest it has been in the 30-year history of the ITA rankings. The Bulldogs also had five players earn All-Ivy League recognition and had a doubles team advance to the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships in the fall for the first time in school history.

A native of Massachusetts, McNamara joined the Yale coaching staff as an assistant coach in 2005 and was hired as the head coach in the summer of 2006. She brings a wealth of experience, having achieved great success as a collegiate player, touring professional, private instructor and coach.

McNamara has made a significant impact since arriving in New Haven, compiling a record of 73-33 overall and 35-7 vs. Ivy League opponents (29-6 in league matches). The Bulldogs have been particularly dominant at home, including an undefeated mark in New Haven (12-0) in 2010-11. Indoors, the Bulldogs play at the award-winning Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center, which was the host site for the 2009 National Intercollegiate Indoor Tennis Championships and has also played host to numerous regional ITA and USTA events.

Under McNamara’s leadership the Bulldogs have been successful in the classroom, earning ITA All-Academic Team recognition in 2008, 2009 and 2010. The team had 11 ITA Scholar Athlete selections in her first four seasons. McNamara has also coached three Academic All-Ivy League selections.

The Bulldogs have also been active in the community under McNamara, and for her efforts she won the 2010 USTA/ITA Campus and Community Outreach Award for the New England region. Yale hosts an annual Campus Kids' Day for local children and organizes a food and clothing drive for the homeless. The team also takes part in New Haven Tennis Outreach, a youth mentorship program for students in grades 3-12 directed towards children from low-income families who otherwise would not have access to high-quality academic guidance or athletic instruction. 

In McNamara’s first year at the helm of the program, the Bulldogs finished second in the Ivy League with a 6-1 conference record.  It was the 2007-2008 season where the program made its first big jump under her leadership.  She guided the Bulldogs to an undefeated Ivy League season and an Ivy League Championship that year, which was the team’s fifth overall Ivy title and first since 1989.  Also in 2008, McNamara led the Bulldogs to their first NCAA Team Tournament appearance. 

The 2008-2009 campaign was another successful one on a national level with the team reaching a national ranking high of No. 41 and finishing the year at No. 50.  The Bulldogs finished the season 14-6 overall and 5-2 in the Ivy League, tying for third place. In 2009-10 Yale ended the season ranked No. 46 after going 16-6 overall. The Bulldogs again finished third in the league with a 5-2 mark. In both 2009 and 2010 Yale won the ECAC Indoor Team Championship.

McNamara has shown a tremendous ability to recruit the best and the brightest players on a national level, recruiting multiple blue chip and 5-star players according to the tennisrecruiting.net rankings. Her most recent recruiting class, the Yale Class of 2015, was ranked No. 14 in the country. That comes on the heels of Yale’s Class of 2014 being ranked No. 8 in the country. Two of her recruited players have competed in junior Grand Slams prior to coming to Yale (Wimbledon, US Open).

As a student-athlete at Michigan from 1996-2000 playing under her maiden name Danielle Lund, McNamara was the Big Ten Sportswoman of the Year (1999) and All-Big Ten (1998). She was the first player in Michigan history to participate in all three college national championships (All-American, National Indoors and the NCAA Championships). She was a two-time captain of the squad and earned the Michigan Athletic Department’s Academic Achievement Award and the Donald R. Shepherd endowed scholarship for athletic and academic success. 

In 2010 Michigan honored McNamara as one of the Wolverines’ “Leaders and Best in 50 States”. The Michigan athletics media relations office, in cooperation with the Bentley Historical Library, went through thousands of names of great Michigan athletes from all over the country to choose the best of the best from each state. McNamara was selected for honorable mention honors in her home state of Massachusetts.

As a freshman at Michigan, McNamara helped lead the team to its first ever Big Ten Championship (1997) and a program high national ranking of No. 16 (No. 1 in the Midwest Region). During her career she was nationally ranked as high as No. 8 in doubles and No. 28 in singles. She and doubles partner Brooke Hart ended the 1998 season ranked No. 25 in the country. Overall McNamara ended the year ranked in the top 26 in the Midwest Region for four straight seasons in doubles (No. 13 in 1997, No. 5 in 1998, No. 8 in 1999 and No. 15 in 2000) and three straight seasons in singles (No. 17 in 1998, No. 19 in 1999 and No. 26 in 2000).

McNamara also gained extensive NCAA experience playing for the Wolverines. As a freshman in 1997, she won her singles matches at No. 6 in straight sets to help Michigan to a 5-0 win over Central Florida in the Regional Quarterfinals and a 5-3 win over Miami (Fla.) in the Regional Semifinals. She then won in straight sets in singles again -- and was part of a winning doubles team at No. 2 -- as the Wolverines beat South Alabama 5-4 to win the Southeast Region. Michigan’s NCAA run ended with a loss to Florida, 5-0, in the next round.

In the 1998 NCAA Tournament, the Wolverines lost in the Regional Quarterfinals. McNamara and Hart, the second duo in school history to earn an NCAA Doubles Championship berth, lost to a team from William & Mary in the first round.

Through the 2010 season McNamara ranks ninth in career singles wins at Michigan with an overall record of 80-55. Her 29 singles wins in 1997, when she went 29-9, rank sixth on Michigan’s single-season list. 

Among her other accomplishments, McNamara won one gold and one bronze ball in national USTA events.  She was also selected to coach the USTA Girl’s 18 New England national team at the National Team Championships in 2008 and 2009.

McNamara is a current member of the ITA Board of Directors, Division I Operating Committee and the USTA New England Collegiate Committee. She was the co-chair of the 2009 ITA National Indoor Championships tournament committee and the chair of the 2009 ITA Northeast Regionals tournament committee. 

THE DANIELLE McNAMARA FILE

Born: November 10, 1978
Hometown: Leominster, Massachusetts
High School: Leominster High School
College: University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) 2001
Bachelor’s Degrees: Economics, Organizational Studies
Family: Married, husband Christian

Collegiate Coaching Experience:  Yale University (Head Coach), 2006-present.  Yale University (Assistant Coach), 2005-06.  Boston University (Volunteer Coach) 2004-05.  University of Michigan (Assistant Coach) 2001-02.

Professional Playing Experience: WTA Tour, 2002-2005

Collegiate Playing Experience: University of Michigan (1996-2000)

Collegiate Head Coaching Highlights at Yale:

• 2011 ITA Northeast Region Coach of the Year
• 2010 USTA/ITA Campus and Community Outreach Award for the New England Region
• Two Ivy League Championships (2008, 2011), including a perfect 7-0 conference season (2008)
• First NCAA Team Tournament appearance in Yale history (2008)
• First NCAA Team Tournament match win in Yale history (2011)
• Three-time ECAC Indoor Team Champions (2009, 2010, 2011)
• First Yale doubles team to advance to the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships in the fall (2010)
• 16 All-Ivy League Singles Selections (Four First Team, 10 Second Team, two Honorable Mention)
• Seven All-Ivy League Doubles Selections (Two First Team, Five Second Team)
• One Ivy League Player of the Year (2008)
• Four Academic All-Ivy League players
• Four ITA All-Academic teams (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011)

Collegiate Playing Highlights at Michigan:

• All-Big Ten Player (1998)
• Big Ten Sportswoman of the Year (1999)
• Two-time team captain (1998-2000)
• Ranks ninth in career wins (80-55)
• Nationally ranked as high as No. 28 in singles and No. 8  in doubles
• First player in Michigan history to play in all three national championships (All-American, National Indoors, NCAA Championships)
• Member of Michigan’s first Big Ten Championship team (1997) 

updated July 21, 2011

Yale's All-Ivy League Players under Danielle McNamara

Yale's Academic All-Ivy League under Danielle McNamara
2006-07 (Spring): Christine Alford
2008-09 (Spring): Janet Kim
2009-10 (Fall): Sarah Lederhandler
2010-11 (Spring): Stevi Petrelli

Yale's ITA Scholar Athletes under Danielle McNamara

2010-11 (3)
Vicky Brook
Silia DeFilippis
Steph Kent

2009-10 (4)
Lindsay Clark
Silia DeFilippis
Sarah Lederhandler
Stevi Petrelli

2008-09 (2)
Silia DeFilippis
Sarah Lederhandler

2007-08 (3)
Janet Kim
Lilian Nguyen
Jessica Rhee

2006-07 (2)
Christine Alford
Sarah Lederhandler

Three-time All-American Christian Thompson joined the Yale coaching staff in 2009, and over the past two seasons has helped lead the Bulldogs to a 38-11 overall record (11-3 in Ivy League play), two ECAC Indoor Team Championships, an Ivy League Championship and the first NCAA Tournament match win in school history. For her efforts in 2010-11 she was named ITA Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year. That season was highlighted by an Ivy League Championship and the team’s third straight ECAC Indoor Team Championship. Yale’s ITA ranking climbed as high as No. 23 in the country, the highest it has been in the 30-year history of the ITA rankings. The Bulldogs also had five players earn All-Ivy League recognition and had a doubles team advance to the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships in the fall of 2010 for the first time in school history.

Thompson has been a part of Yale’s highly successful recruiting efforts, as the Bulldogs landed a pair of players for the Class of 2015 ranked as five-star recruits by Tennis Recruiting Network. That recruiting class was ranked No. 14 in the country in January 2011. In the previous season's recruiting class Yale added one blue-chipper and a pair of five-stars, earning a ranking as the No. 8 recruiting class in the country.

Yale has also been successful in the classroom during Thompson’s time in New Haven, earning an ITA All-Academic Team selection in 2010 and 2011. The team is active in the community as well, hosting an annual Campus Kids' Day for local children as well as organizing a food and clothing drive for the homeless. The team also takes part in New Haven Tennis Outreach, a youth mentorship program for students in grades 3-12 directed towards children from low-income families who otherwise would not have access to high-quality academic guidance or athletic instruction.

Thompson also helped Yale serve as the host site for the 2009 National Intercollegiate Indoor Tennis Championships at the award-winning Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center.

A 2007 graduate of Notre Dame and a marketing major in Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, Thompson played collegiate and professional tennis.  During her four years at Notre Dame, where she played for 2006 ITA National Coach of the Year Jay Louderback, she earned the No. 1 doubles ranking in the nation in both 2005 and 2006.  She and her doubles partner and twin sister, Catrina Thompson, were named NCAA All-Americans in doubles in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Thompson also was honored for her work in the classroom, earning three Big East Academic All-Star selections.

Thompson gained extensive NCAA Team Championship experience at Notre Dame, advancing to the Quarterfinals twice (2006, 2007) and the Round of 16 twice (2004, 2005). For her career in the NCAA Team Championship she won five of eight singles matches (four were abandoned) and two of six doubles matches (six were abandoned). She was part of Notre Dame’s No. 1 doubles team in every NCAA match, and played as high as No. 2 in singles in the NCAAs.

Thompson also made four appearances in the NCAA Doubles Championship while at Notre Dame, starting in her freshman season (2003-04) when she and her twin sister became the school’s first all-freshman team to earn an NCAA Doubles Championship berth. The duo upset No. 15 Jennifer McGaffigan and Cynthya Goulet of Illinois in three sets before losing in three against No. 26 Megan Muth and Amy Wei of William & Mary. They advanced to the Round of 16 again in 2005. They lost in the first round in 2006, then advanced as far as the quarterfinals in 2007.

In addition to their NCAA experience, the Thompsons also won the ITA All-American Doubles Championship in 2005, becoming the first Notre Dame team to win an ITA Championship. They placed second in the event in 2004 and 2006.

During her professional career, Thompson won a prize-money tournament in Ojai, Calif., in May 2009.  She achieved WTA world rankings as high as No. 437 for doubles and No. 936 for singles.  In the summer of 2008, Thompson won two $10,000 pro doubles tournaments in Tampico, Mexico, and Houston, Tex.  She also won two $10,000 pro doubles events in St. Joseph, Mo., and Wichita, Kans., in the summer of 2006.   

A native of Las Vegas, Nev., Thompson and her twin sister were inducted into the Nevada Tennis Hall of Fame in 2008 along with Andre Agassi’s father and first coach, Mike Agassi. Thompson attended Bishop Gorman High, where she earned All-America honors all four years, going undefeated throughout her career. She helped Bishop Gorman to the Nevada state championship and won the doubles title. She was a three-time state champion and team MVP and won conference and regional titles on four occasions.

Honors:

• ITA Northeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year (2011)
• Inducted, along with twin sister Catrina Thompson, into the Nevada Tennis Hall of Fame (2008). Fellow honorees included Mike Agassi, father of Andre Agassi.
• Three-time Big East Academic All-Star (2004, 2005, 2007)
• World University Games Team selection in doubles with twin sister Catrina Thompson (2005)
• Co-valedictorian and Silver State Scholar at Bishop Gorman High School and also was active in National Honor Society
• Featured with twin sister Catrina Thompson in Sports Illustrated On Campus’ “A List” of 14 elite college athletes in Oct. 2005

Pre-Collegiate Playing Highlights

• Combined with twin sister Catrina Thompson to form the No. 1 doubles team in the nation in USTA Girls' 18s
• As a junior won national doubles titles on every surface: grass, hard and clay courts
• Earned All-America honors all four years at Bishop Gorman High School, going undefeated throughout her career
• Helped Bishop Gorman to the Nevada state championship and won doubles title
• Three-time state champion and team MVP
• Won conference and regional titles on four occasions

Collegiate Playing Highlights at Notre Dame:

• Team co-captain with twin sister Catrina Thompson in 2006-07; led team to 28-4 record (.875), No. 7 ranking in the country, NCAA Team Championship Tournament quarterfinals, Big East finals
• Team made four NCAA Team Championship Tournament appearances in her career, advancing to the quarterfinals twice (2006, 2007) and the second round twice (2004, 2005)
• Team won two Big East Championships (2005, 2006) and was Big East runners-up twice (2004, 2007) in her career. Thompson had wins in both singles and doubles in 2005 championship match.
• Team ended the season ranked in the top 27 every year of her career (No. 27 in 2003-04, No. 24 in 2004-05, No. 5 in 2006-07, No. 7 in 2006-07)
• Team went 82-28 (.745) in her career
• Went 79-50 (.612) overall in singles, 54-36 (.600) in dual matches
• Went 106-41 (.721) overall in doubles, 72-26 (.735) in dual matches
• Set school record for career doubles wins as a team with twin sister Catrina Thompson (104)
• Ranked as high as No. 1 in doubles (Feb. 22, 2005; Jan. 10, 2006). Highest end-of-season ranking was No. 5 in 2005.
• Ranked as high as No. 32 in singles (2006-07)
• Three-time NCAA All-American in Doubles (2005, 2006, 2007)
• ITA All-American Doubles Champion (2005); two-time ITA All-American Doubles Runner-Up (2004, 2006)
• Four-time Big East All-Tournament Doubles Team (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
• Three-time Big East All-Tournament Singles Team (2004, 2005, 2007)
• Four NCAA Doubles Championship appearances with twin sister Catrina Thompson: Quarterfinalist (2007), Round of 16 (2004, 2005) and First Round (2006)
• Part of first all-freshman doubles team from Notre Dame to gain a berth in the NCAA Doubles Championship (2004)

Professional Playing Highlights:

• Won prize-money tournament in Ojai, Calif. (May 2009)
• WTA world rankings as high as No. 437 in doubles (July 2008) and No. 936 in singles (Sept. 2003)
• Won two $10,000 pro doubles events in St. Joseph, Miss., and Wichita, Kan. (Summer 2006)
• Won two $10,000 pro doubles tournament in Tampico, Mexico, and Houston, Texas (Summer 2008)