TEMPE, Ariz. – The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is excited to announce the 2026 ITA Women’s Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame class, comprised of two coaches who shaped future generations of leaders and three former student-athletes who combined for four NCAA Singles Championship titles.
The 2026 induction class consists of two-time NCAA Singles champion Laura Granville (Stanford), 1996 NCAA Women’s Singles champion Jill Craybas (Florida), 1999 NCAA Women’s Singles champion Zuzana Lesenarova (San Diego) and longtime Division I head coaches in Sheila McInerney (Arizona State) and Louise Gengler Thomas (Princeton) who combine for more than six decades of coaching experience.
“This year’s ITA Women’s Hall of Fame class represents the very best of collegiate tennis,” David Mullins, CEO of the ITA, said. “From national champions to transformative coaches, each of these inductees has helped define excellence in our sport. We are honored to celebrate their achievements and recognize the lasting legacy they have built both on and off the court.”
Combined, the 2026 Women’s Hall of Fame class is responsible for more than 1,000 collegiate wins, numerous Player/Coach of the Year honors and many additional accolades on the WTA Tour.
The induction ceremony will be held on Saturday, Oct. 10 at the College of William & Mary in the Sadler Center’s Chesapeake Room in Williamsburg, Virginia, beginning at 5 p.m. ET.
A cocktail reception will be held on Friday, Oct. 9 at William & Mary’s McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center, the home of the ITA Women’s Collegiate Hall of Fame, which will feature the unveiling of the panels for the Class of 2026. Additional details will be shared at a later date.
For more information regarding the newest inductees, continue reading below.
Jill Craybas, Florida/Texas (player)
The 1996 NCAA Women’s Singles champion, Jill Craybas closed her storied collegiate career on top of the college tennis world. In addition to winning the national singles title as a senior, the two-time All-American was also twice named the SEC Player of the Year and the ITA South Region Player of the Year. Craybas, who owned a career record of 124-18 across two seasons each at Texas and Florida, also recorded match-clinching victories that secured two NCAA Team Championship titles (1993, 1996), the former for the Longhorns and the latter for the Gators. She became the first woman in the history of the NCAA Tennis Championships to win the national championship with two different schools.
After college, Craybas enjoyed a successful career on the professional tour. Ranking as high as No. 41 in the world, she tallied five titles and competed in 45 consecutive Grand Slam main draws from 2000-2011. Craybas became one of the most tenured players on the WTA tour, having turned pro in 1996.
Louise Gengler Thomas, Princeton (coach)
Louise Gengler Thomas, widely recognized as one of the most impactful figures in the collegiate game, spent 25 years as the head coach of the Princeton women’s program before her retirement in 2004.
Under her guidance, the Tigers won seven Ivy League Championship titles and tallied more than 300 wins. The longest-tenured female coach in Princeton Athletics history, Gengler Thomas was twice named the ITA’s East Region Coach of the Year (1994, 2000). She also led the Tigers to six appearances in the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) and NCAA national team championships. Committed to bettering the game across all levels of the sport, Gengler Thomas served on the NCAA National Tournament Committee for six years and was a member of both the ITA Board of Directors and ITA Women’s Operating Committee for over 20 years. In 1989, she became the first woman honored with the ITA Meritorious Service Award.
Considered a pioneer in the evolution of women’s athletics, Gengler Thomas was a three-sport athlete in the early days of women’s sports at Princeton. She first arrived at Princeton in 1972, just two years after women were first admitted. She played tennis, ice hockey and field hockey, winning the school’s 1975 C. Otto von Kienbusch Award as the top senior sportswoman on campus. Her sisters, Marjory and Nancy, also played at Princeton, continuing the family tradition of athletic careers at Princeton set by their father, uncle and grandfather. The Gengler sisters remain among the greatest women athletes in Princeton history.
Away from tennis, Gengler Thomas, an avid baseball fan, started her Take Kids Out to the Ball Game foundation, aimed at bringing underprivileged children to baseball games while weaving in academic experiences.
Laura Granville, Stanford (player)
Laura Granville played just two seasons in college at Stanford (1999-2001), but both ended with NCAA Singles Championship titles. During a pair of seasons as a Cardinal, Granville won an NCAA-record 58 consecutive singles matches, and paired her individual singles crowns with one NCAA team title and two ITA Indoor singles titles. A two-time ITA Player of the Year award winner, Granville went 93-3 in college.
Following her sophomore season, Granville turned to the professional tour, where she achieved a career-best ranking of No. 28 in singles and No. 47 in doubles in addition to nine ITF titles. Recording wins over Grand Slam champions like Marion Bartoli, Martina Hingis, Mary Pierce and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Granville reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon on two occasions, and also advanced to the third round at the US Open, French Open and Australian Open.
After nine years as a professional, Granville returned to Stanford to finish her degree in history in June 2012.
Zuzana Lesenarova, San Diego (player)
One of the most impactful student-athletes in all of collegiate tennis during her time at the University of San Diego (1996-2000), Zuzana Lesenarova was a four-time ITA All-American and the school’s only NCAA Division I national champion.
As a junior, Lesenarova won the 1999 NCAA Division I national singles championship by defeating Stanford’s Marissa Irvin in the final, ending a dazzling junior campaign as the No. 1 ranked player in the nation. In addition to winning three of the four Collegiate Grand Slam events in 1999, Lesenarova was named the 1999 ITA National Player of the Year and was rewarded with an invitation to the 1999 U.S. Open Championships. While at San Diego, she held the No. 1 singles ranking twice (1999, 2000), the No. 1 doubles ranking once (2000, w/Katrina Valkyova) and was a two-time National Clay Court Champion. Her collegiate resume also includes two Riviera All-American Championship titles, three semifinalist finishes at the Rolex Indoors and a trio of West Coast Conference Player of the Year honors. Lesenarova finished her Torero career with an overall record of 202-55 (139-25 in singles; 63-30 in doubles).
Sheila McInerney, Arizona State (coach)
For four decades, Sheila McInerney led the Arizona State women’s program to national prominence, winning 589 matches, advancing to 37 NCAA Tournaments and finishing each season in the top-40 national rankings. McInerney, who was named head coach of the Sun Devils in 1984, led ASU to eight NCAA quarterfinal appearances, 18 Sweet Sixteens and was just the sixth coach in school history to reach the 500-win plateau before her retirement following the 2024 campaign. She was named the ITA Meritorious Service Award winner in 2019 and was twice named the ITA Southwest Region Coach of the Year and Pac-12 Coach of the Year – both achieved in the 2016 and 2022 seasons.
Throughout her career, McInerney has consistently displayed service and leadership to the collegiate game, serving on the ITA Board of Directors, the ITA Women’s Hall of Fame Committee and as the Chair of the ITA Division I Women’s Operating Committee.
Prior to her coaching career, McInerney was a highly decorated student-athlete at USC, where she captained the Trojans during her senior season. A four-time All-American, McInerney helped the Trojans to three national championships. Individually, she was the national doubles runner-up three times in addition to reaching the singles semifinal at the 1977 NCAA Tournament. Following her decorated collegiate career, McInerney advanced to the professional tour, where peaked within the top-75 of the world rankings and played in three Grand Slam tournaments.
Please contact Griffin Fabits, ITA Hall of Fame Manager, gfabits@itatennis.com, if you have any additional questions regarding the Class of 2026 induction at this time.
About the ITA –
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) is the governing body and coaches association of college tennis, both an advocate and an authority for the sport and its members. Comprised of 1,260 colleges and universities, 20,000 student-athletes, 1,700 varsity programs, 3,000 coaches, and 1,350 college tennis officials, the ITA empowers college tennis coaches at all levels to deliver vibrant tennis programs that are vital to their college communities and transformational to their student-athletes. Follow the college tennis season on the ITA website and ITA social channels on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
