Tom Lilly, who has been a part of Bluejay tennis for 25 years, is in his 16th full season at the helm of Creighton’s women’s and men’s tennis programs. He spent five years as a player, redshirting one season, one year as a fan and three years as an assistant coach for both teams. He took over as interim head coach in the spring of 1997. He was later named head coach of both the men’s and women’s teams at the end of the season.

    As a player, Lilly racked up 128 victories, which is good for third on the Creighton all-time career wins list. Sixty-four of his wins came in singles play, placing him fifth on the all-time singles charts.  The other half of his wins came in doubles, a number that ties him for the all-time lead on the Creighton charts.  As a freshman and sophomore, Lilly held down the No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles positions.

        As a sophomore, he tied the school record for the most combined wins at the singles and doubles positions with 39. He also holds the school record for the most doubles wins in a season at the No. 2 position with 18 wins. Lilly was voted the team’s Most Improved Player both as a freshman and sophomore. After sitting out a season as a medical redshirt, Lilly returned for his junior and senior seasons. He competed at the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles positions both years and is in the school record books at both positions. At the No. 1 singles position, he finished second in school history with 18 wins during his senior season. As a junior, Lilly broke the school record at the No. 1 doubles position with 17 wins. He was the team’s captain as a junior and senior and was voted the Most Valuable Player as a junior. He graduated in 1993 with a degree in theology.

        For his collegiate accomplishments, Lilly was named to the MVC All-Centennial Team in 2007. He was the only male player from Creighton selected to the team, while coaching the only women's player from Creighton, Katie Chiw.

        In 15 years as head coach of the Creighton women’s tennis team, Lilly has posted a dual match record of 163-199. Last year’s team finished 11-10 and 6th in The Valley. Lilly also has served as a member of the Central Region Advisory Committee for NCAA Division I women’s tennis.

        On trips to Orlando, Florida, the women's team is 23-1 under Lilly, including a perfect mark in both 2010 and 2012.

        Lilly has 302 coaching victories during his campaign coaching both men's and women's tennis. He earned his 300th victory during a 7-0 sweep of UNO on Apr. 12, 2012 on the men's side. He has coached close to 100 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athletes, with six men's players and eight women's players earning the award last season. 

        He has also had success coaching Missouri Valley Conference All-Conference players, coaching seven MVC All-Conference women's players including the doubles team of Kelsey Schmidt and Mary McMullanand in 2012 and four men's players.

        During the summer months, Lilly also serves as the head tennis professional at Oak Hills Country Club in Omaha. He is married to former Bluejay tennis player Jean (Fougeron) Lilly, who serves as the assistant coach for the women’s squad. The couple has a 12-year-old son, TJ, and an eight-year-old daughter, Kaitlyn Elise.