SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Molly Aloia has been promoted to head women's tennis coach at Dominican University of California, announced Director of Athletics Brandon Leimbach. Aloia has served as the program's assistant for the past two seasons.

"We're excited to be able to give Molly this opportunity and to see the continued upward success of women's tennis at Dominican," said Leimbach.

Aloia replaces outgoing coach Alex Poorta, who returned to her alma mater Saint Mary's College as an assistant coach after three seasons on the Dominican staff, two as head coach. Last season, Aloia helped Dominican earn its best-ever season in the Division II era.

"I have been fortunate to have a great college tennis experience where I grew as a player and as an individual and I hope to provide this same experience at Dominican," said Aloia. "I want to take this team to the next level and for each player to reach her maximum potential as a student-athlete."

A four-year varsity player for the Gaels, Aloia graduated from SMC in 2012 with a degree in kinesiology with an emphasis in health and human performance. She played an instrumental portion in capturing the program's first-ever West Coast Conference title by winning all of her matches, including her final one in the the conference tournament. While in Moraga, she earned SMC's Senior Athlete of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors.

Aloia has coached summer camps and taught private lessons since she was 15. More recently, Aloia has worked as a tennis pro at Murrieta Tennis Club and at The Club at Harbor Point.

Joining Aloia as assistant coach is Macall (Harkins) Andreas, who brings over 20 years of tennis experience with her.

"Macall will be a great addition to our program," said Aloia. "She brings professional experience and a new perspective to the program."

Andreas began touring professionally with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) in 2010 and has amassed a 94-73 career singles and 96-61 career doubles record. She has won 12 ITF challenger tournaments as a professional and reached her highest singles ranking at 377 in the world and 222 in doubles.

Andreas found much success at the collegiate level with Illinois and Texas Christian University, where she graduated from with a degree in communications. She was named to the All-Big Ten Singles Team as a sophomore at Illinois. That season she was also voted MVP and Most Improved Player by the Illini women's squad. Andreas transferred to Illinois, where she found continued success for the Horned Frogs. In 2009, She received the ITA Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership and Sportsmanship Award for the Southwest Region. During her career, Andreas competed both as individually and in doubles in the NCAA tournament.