(Sugar Grove, IL) – Waubonsee Community College women's tennis head coach Jennifer McMullen has announced that she is retiring. McMullen, who has led the Chiefs' program the last nine years, is stepping aside at the end of this month. Waubonsee's women's tennis has thrived under McMullen's leadership, particularly the last three years.
The Chiefs won the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) title and the Region IV championship in 2016, going a perfect 10-0 along the way. McMullen was subsequently named the ISCC and Region Coach of the Year, leading the Chiefs to a top-25 finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I National Tournament in Arizona. In 2017, McMullen was again tabbed the Region Coach of the Year as her crew won the Region IV title for the second straight year and went on to earn another top-25 finish at the National Tournament. This past fall she was named the ISCC Coach of the Year after Waubonsee went undefeated (5-0) in ISCC play to win the 2018 league title for the third time during McMullen's tenure. She also guided the Chiefs to the conference crown in 2010, her first year at the helm. In McMullen's final time on the Chiefs' sidelines, her crew finished second at the Region IV Tournament by the slimmest of margins. The Chiefs' number two doubles team fell 11-9 in a third set tie breaker as Lake County edged Waubonsee for the title by just a half point.
Over the last nine seasons at Waubonsee she has helped 15 players earn ISCC singles crowns, including three ISCC Player of the Year honorees, to go along with eight duos capturing ISCC doubles championships. McMullen also had nine players secure Region singles titles, while seven tandems grabbed doubles championships. During her tenure, four individuals earned berths to the NJCAA National Tournament, along with the two teams that qualified in 2016 and 2017.
Coach McMullen has been the tennis pro at the Vaughan Athletic Center in Aurora since 2003, specializing in Women's Travel Teams, Junior Recreational, Developmental and Advance Courses. Prior to that, the Elburn resident supervised and taught tennis for three years for the City of Albuquerque (NM) Parks and Recreation Department.
As a collegiate player at Ferris State (MI) College, McMullen helped the Bulldogs win the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship in 1983-84. She later graduated with an Associate Degree in Engineering and a Bachelor's Degree in Statistics from the University of New Mexico. McMullen worked for 13 years in research and development for Alcan Aluminum and continues to play tennis competitively on United States Tennis Association and Northern Illinois Traveling Tennis League teams.
