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Women's tennis adds volunteer assistant coach

PostPosted: Sun Aug 18, 2019 6:54 pm
by PonyPride
From SMUMustangs.com:

Casati Joins Women’s Tennis Staff as Volunteer Coach

DALLAS (SMU) – Alexis Casati will join the SMU Women's Tennis staff as a volunteer coach, head coach Jeff Nevolo announced on Friday.

Casati comes to SMU after serving as the assistant coach at Western Michigan for two seasons. Prior to her time in Kalamazoo, Casati was a standout tennis player at the University of Illinois.

"Alexis is a tremendous addition to our staff," Nevolo said. "Her experience as a student-athlete at the University of Illinois and her two seasons as a full-time assistant coach at Western Michigan make her highly qualified to help this program improve. Our team is excited to welcome her!"

Casati helped contribute to WMU's successful 2019 season, as the team finished 12-11 overall, its best record since 2016. She also had a role in the 2018 fall recruiting class, which was the program's best class since 2014 and the largest in program history.

As a member of the Fighting Illini women's tennis program, Casati finished with an overall record of 61-46, primarily playing as No. 1 and No. 2 singles. She reached her career-high ITA singles ranking at 82 and was ranked No. 122 during her senior season. Casati was a three-time MVP and two-time captain at Illinois and was named to the All-Big Ten Team her sophomore season while being honored as Academic All-Big Ten her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. She is also tied for the Illinois freshman record for single season wins, going 30-10 overall in singles competition.

Before college, the Deerfield, Ill. native was named First-Team Illinois All-State in 2011 and placed fifth in the State Championships. Casati, a five-star recruit, was coached by her parents, Michelle and Stephen Casati, who both played tennis professionally.