June 13, 2006
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - University of Illinois Director of Athletics Ron Guenther announced today the hiring of Michelle Dasso as the seventh Fighting Illini women's tennis coach. Dasso comes to Illinois from the University of Notre Dame, where she made a name for herself as a player and as an up-and-coming assistant coach.
"I am excited to have Michelle join our staff as women's tennis coach," said Guenther. "She comes highly recommended by respected coaches, players and influential people in the tennis community who have identified her as an exceptional coach and person. Her experience as a player and as a coach is outstanding and will allow her to become established here very quickly. She is extremely competitive and will be a terrific fit into the Fighting Illini family."
"I'm very excited about the opportunity to come to the University of Illinois," said Dasso. "I'd like to personally thank Ron Guenther and Vince Ille for showing me their vision for Illinois tennis and allowing me to be a part of it. When I came to campus I was blown away by the top notch facilities, great people and support system. The excitement surrounding tennis at Illinois is amazing and I'm looking forward to building the program and competing for championships in the future."
A native of Long Grove, Ill., and a 1997 graduate of Stevenson High School, Dasso has spent the last three years as an assistant coach for the University of Notre Dame women's tennis program under head coach Jay Louderback. Her primary responsibilities in South Bend were recruiting, on-court coaching, budgeting, travel arrangement and managing the strength and conditioning program.
Dasso was recently named the ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year after leading the Irish to unprecedented success in 2005-06. Notre Dame finished 27-2 on the season and was ranked No. 2 in the country for eight weeks before falling in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships. In the fall of 2005, she coached the doubles tandem of Catrina and Christian Thompson to the ITA All-American Championships Doubles Title, where they became the first Notre Dame women's tennis players to capture a collegiate grand slam tournament.
In only her third season, Dasso has already made a name for herself as a recruiter. She helped recruit this year's Irish signing class that was ranked as the top class in the country by tennisrecruiting.net and has previously been involved in recruiting two All-Americans. In addition, the women's tennis team is annually in contention for highest team GPA honors amongst all Notre Dame athletic teams.
As a player, Dasso is the most decorated women's tennis player in Notre Dame history. She was named the ITA National Senior Player of the Year in 2001 and is the program's only four-time All-American. She still tops the Irish record books in nearly every statistical category, including career singles victories (140), career doubles victories (109), season singles victories (40) and combined season victories (74).
Dasso was the 2001 recipient of the Francis Patrick O'Conner Award, presented annually by the University to one male and one female student-athlete who best display the total embodiment of the true spirit of Notre Dame.
After earning a bachelor's degree in business administration-marketing from Notre Dame in 2001, Dasso spent two injury-riddled years playing professionally, ranking as high as 483rd in the world in singles and 388th in doubles, before returning to South Bend, Ind. to join the Irish staff.
Dasso replaces former head coach Sujay Lama, who resigned in May after eight seasons at Illinois.
THE MICHELLE DASSO FILE
Born: 2/12/79
Hometown: Long Grove, Ill.
Hired: June 13, 2006
Education
University of Notre Dame - bachelor's degree in business administration-marketing, May 2001
Career Experience
2006- Head Coach, University of Illinois Women's Tennis
2003-06 Assistant Coach, University of Notre Dame Women's Tennis
Playing Experience
2001-03 USTA Professional Circuit
1998-2001 University of Notre Dame
ITA National Senior Player of the Year (2001)
Four-time ITA All-American (singles and doubles, 1999 and 2001)
Two-time Big East Championship Most Outstanding Player (2000 and '01)
Four-time Team MVP (1998, '99, 2000, '01)
Winningest Player in Notre Dame history - singles (140 wins) and doubles (109 wins)
Notre Dame Athletics Francis Patrick O'Connor Award (2001)
Notre Dame Gladys Heldman Award (2001)
