TEMPE – Legendary former Sun Devil Women’s Tennis Head Coach Sheila McInerney is one of five members to be inducted into the ITA Collegiate Women’s Tennis Hall of Fame Class of 2026, announced Monday by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Mcinerney joins Jill Craybas (Florida), Louise Gengler (Coach/Princeton), Laura Granville (Stanford), and Zuzana Lesenarova (San Diego). The five inductees will be celebrated on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA.
After being hired at the age of 25 in 1984, McInerney held the title of head coach for 40 years, and her impact on the program and women is immeasurable. Her kindness and generosity are unmatched and left a mark on every student-athlete she mentored during her time at Arizona State.
Many former players and coaches would call her a legend for the impact McInerney has made on the program and for what she did for them as student-athletes. Full of Sun Devil pride, McInerney made a legacy that can’t be replicated, showcasing her endearing love and kindness for Sun Devil Athletics as head coach of the program for 40 years.
“Sheila is nothing short of a groundbreaking trailblazer. She’s a Sun Devil through and through. 40 Years in her successful tenure here, and the things that she did here by leaving a legacy," said Sun Devil Women’s Tennis Head Coach Jamea Jackson.
No other Sun Devil Athletics head coach has held the role longer than McInerney, who won nearly 600 matches - 589 to be exact - and led the program to 37 NCAA Tournament appearances, eight trips to the Round of 16 and coached 25 Sun Devils to 49 All-American honors, helping lead the Sun Devils to 38 winning seasons.
The on-court excellence of the program extended off the court, producing more than 50 ITA Scholar-Athletes, 80 Academic All-Pac-12 selections, and four academic All-Americans while she was at the helm.
McInerney, a three-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, was tabbed an ITA National Coach of the Year in 1997 and guided the Sun Devils to No. 7 in the nation, also earning Pac-10 Coach of the Year.
In 2016, Mcinerney was honored with the ITA Timothy Russell Meritorious Service Award for going above and beyond in their commitment and contributions to college tennis. She is just one of 11 college coaches to earn this prestigious honor since 2015.
While within the ITA and the United States Tennis Association (USTA), she spent time on the ITA Board of Directors while coaching the Sun Devils and was Chair of the ITA Division I Women’s Operating Committee.
Some notable Sun Devils she mentored during her time as head coach were Desirae Krawczyk (2013-2016), who has won four grand slam mixed doubles titles and was a member of Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. At ASU, Krawczyk won 97 singles matches.
McInerney mentored Reka Cseresnyes (1995-98), who is the only four-time All-American selection in program history, and posted a 104-51 record as a Sun Devil. Cseresnyes was inducted into the Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013. It’s only a handful of hundreds of athletes McInerney coached while at Sun Devil Athletics.
Prior to being hired at Arizona State at age 25, McInerney served as an assistant women’s tennis coach at USC during the 1983-84 season, where USC was an NCAA Finalist.
McInerney attended and played at USC, where she was the team captain for her senior season. She was a four-time All-American and a four-time Trojan Spirit Award Winner voted by her teammates. The Trojans won three national championships during McInerney’s collegiate career, and she was the national collegiate doubles runner-up three times and a singles semifinalist in 1977.
As a professional, she played on the major international tour, earning a world ranking in the top 75. McInerney competed at three grand slam venues -- Wimbledon, the French Open and the U.S. Open, where she reached the round of 32.