ITA Honors Dallis & Scott with Coaching and Sportsmanship Awards

HANOVER, N.H. — Dartmouth head women's tennis coach Bob Dallis, Ed.D., who led the Big Green to their first-ever Ivy League women's tennis title in April, has been named the Wilson/ITA Northeast Region Coach of the Year. He shares the honor with Yale's Danielle McNamara.

Senior Molly Scott (Trabuco Cyn, Calif.), a three-time All-Ivy selection in singles and doubles, was named the ITA Northeast Region Senior of the Year and also earned the region's Cissie Leary Award for Sportsmanship. She shares the award with Boston University's Vanessa Steiner. This sportsmanship award goes to a Division I women's player who displays inspiring dedication and commitment to her team, which has enhanced her team's performance and exemplified the spirit of college tennis. It dates back to 1997, and is in memory of the late and widely admired Penn women's tennis coach Cissie Leary.

"I am thankful for this honor and delighted to share it with Coach McNamara, who just led Yale to the program's first-ever first-round victory in the NCAA tournament," said Dallis. "So I'm in great company! But I am truly thankful to my team, who make me look good every day. They work incredibly hard, represent Dartmouth so well on and off the court, and are a lot of fun to coach. And while I'm really proud of how hard they fought this year to bring home Dartmouth's first Ivy League title, it also means a lot to me that Dartmouth players are regularly recognized for their sportsmanship. I couldn't be happier that Molly is the second consecutive Dartmouth player to win the Cissie Leary sportsmanship award. Mary Beth Winingham '10 won it last year, while her classmate Jesse Adler '10 won the 2010 Arthur Ashe regional sportsmanship award."

Dartmouth ended the 2011 season with a 14-8 record and finished 6-1 in the Ivy League, making the Big Green co-Ivy League champions with Yale, who also went 6-1. Dartmouth currently stands at No. 54 in the latest national rankings, which unfortunately was a few spots shy of landing them an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship after Yale earned the automatic bid.

Known for his technical teaching abilities and skill at developing players, Dallis has sent several former players to the pro tour, including Kevin Jonckheer, the player-coach for the Netherlands Antilles' Davis Cup team. Scott, who reached the semifinal of the ITA Northeast Regional Championship last October, will also be playing pro tennis following her graduation in June. Dallis has coached nine All-Ivy players honored 21 times, including 2011 honorees Scott and sophomore Sarah Leonard (Norwalk, Conn.). Scott is one of only 13 players in the history of the Ivy League to be named First Team All Ivy in singles three times. She also set a new Dartmouth record for singles wins, doubles wins, and career wins with a 165-86 career mark. Remarkably, every one of those wins was achieved while playing No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles, except for one doubles match.

"Molly has exemplified everything that Dartmouth tennis stands for," said Dallis. "Unsurpassed sportsmanship, an incredible work ethic, and a willingness to work on new things to help take her game to another level. She has been a pleasure to coach and I know all our loyal fans are really going to miss watching her play here at Dartmouth."

Dallis just concluded his ninth year as the Dartmouth women's head coach and his 24th year as a Division I head coach. He will be going for his 350th career-win next season. Dallis was hired to coach the men's tennis team at Boston University, his alma mater, at the age of 23, making him one of the youngest head tennis coaches in Division I history. While the Dartmouth team will be graduating Scott and her fellow captains and singles and doubles starters Ryan Reichel (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) and Georgiana Smyser (Houston, Texas), the incoming freshman class has been rated the country's 20th best recruiting class by TennisRecruiting.net.

Dallis earned a doctoral degree in developmental studies and counseling, with a specialization in sport and exercise psychology, from Boston University's School of Education in May 2002. His teams have been named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team in each season that he has coached. To be eligible for the award, a team must post a collective cumulative grade point average of at least 3.2. In the past two seasons, 15 members of the team have been singled out for ITA All-Academic accolades, an honor that is reserved for players who earn a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

His teams also have a tradition of service in the local community. The Dartmouth women's tennis team has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, COVER Home Repair, Big Green Readers at the Mount Lebanon Elementary School in West Lebanon, N.H., and the Haven transitional homeless shelter for families, located in White River Junction, Vt.

Coach Dallis and the team after beating Harvard to clinch the Ivy League title in April

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