Western Illinois University Athletics

Western Illinois Athletics named Raquel Allen as the head coach of the women's tennis program. Director of Athletics Tommy Bell announced the hire in July 2014. Allen joins the staff after spending the past two seasons as the women's tennis head coach at Indiana Tech.
 
"We are excited to have Raquel join the Leatherneck family. She is a young, dynamic coach, and will definitely energize our program," said Bell. "Already in her brief coaching career, Raquel has twice been named 'Coach of the Year'. She will work hard to build our women's tennis program into a contender in The Summit League."
 
"First all of all, I want to thank Tommy Bell for this incredible opportunity to be a part of such a great institution like Western Illinois University. It is a great honor to be a part of this fine athletic department," said Allen. "I also would like to thank my former coach Eric Burns and Ron Clark (Assistant Athletic Director for Operations) at Fort Wayne for all the mentoring they have provided me, which has helped me to prepare for this incredible opportunity at Western Illinois University."
           
In each of her two years at the helm of the Warrior program, Allen was the recipient of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Coach of the Year Award.
 
This will be the second stint in the Summit League for Raquel (Vescovi) Allen, as she was a member of the Fort Wayne women's tennis team from 2009-2012. A co-captain her junior and senior seasons, Allen was named the team's Most Valuable Player in 2012, and was a two-time Summit League all-league selection. Allen was also named a Chancellor's Merit Award recipient all four years.
 
Allen was a member of the Mastodons team that made their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010 against Notre Dame, and followed that with back-to-back appearances in 2011, facing Northwestern.
 
"I am really excited to be a part of this tennis program at Western Illinois!. I am certain that in the next few years the program will achieve athletic and academic excellence with a different mindset," added Allen. "I am familiar with the Summit League from my days as a student-athlete, so I believe this will help get a step up on other teams and improve our overall performance"
 
Allen graduated from Fort Wayne with a bachelor's degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication, with a minor in psychology. Allen went on to earn her master's degree in Organizational Leadership from Indiana Tech.