Vicky Maes takes the head coaching reins for the women's tennis team

Photo courtesy of UA athletic department

Vicky Maes, UA's new women's tennis head coach, says she hopes to bring the program back to the level it attained when she was a four-time All-American Wildcat from 1995-1998.

Vicky Maes' dream came true last week when she was named the new head coach of the Arizona women's tennis team.

A former athlete and honors student at UA, Maes finished her career as one of the most decorated athletes in university history.

Maes replaces former head coach Brad Dancer, who left the school mid-season to become the head men's tennis coach at Fresno State. Assistant coach Simon Thibodeau was the interim coach before Maes was hired, and will onstaff.

Maes has the challenge of leading a team that failed to make the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time in program history.

"My goal is to get the program back on track," Maes said. "I want to bring back the traditions from when I played here."

In her week as head coach, she has already earned one fan - the man she replaced.

"She is very passionate about Arizona," Thibodeau said. "We get along well, and it is easy to communicate with her."

Maes graduated from UA in 1999 with honors and has been working closely with the Wildcats as a volunteer coach since. In her previous position in the athletic department, she worked as a coordinator for the athletics department's model program (CATS) that serves to enhance the peer development and community service of student athletes.

During her undergraduate years, she was a four-time All-American from 1995-1998 and was the nation's top-ranked player in 1996 and 1997.

Among other honors, Maes was UA's first four-time All-American and the first Wildcat to be ranked No. 1 in the nation

She was a three-time captain for UA's squad, vice president of the student-athlete advisory board for two years, a member of the Peer Athletic Leaders Board as a junior and participated in Pacific 10 Conference and NCAA Leadership activities as UA's representative.

She was also active in community service throughout her playing career and her time with the CATS program.

As a native Belgian, she is fluent in English, Dutch and French, which will come in handy when communicating with the team's international players.

"This is absolutely a dream come true," Maes said. "I want to bring back some of the same things I learned from when I played here under Becky Bell; it was us eight young women coming together learning to love and trust our teammates."