The University of Memphis men’s tennis team opens a busy Fall slate this weekend in Chicago at the Illinois Invitational. The crammed schedule comes at an opportune time for the Tigers, who lost six seniors from last year’s eight-man squad.
Senior Connor Glennon and sophomore Louis Asser are the only players remaining from last year’s squad.
The Tigers have made the NCAA tournament for three straight seasons, and head coach Paul Goebel said he is proud of his squads’ consistency.
“It’s been a great run,” Goebel said. “I’m just so excited with where this program has to progressed to be one of the elite teams in the country. One of our goals was to establish some consistency. We didn’t want it to be a one time thing, but to keep competing for an AAC championship and getting to the NCAA tournament.”
Glennon made history for the program this past week when the Intercollegiate Tennis Association named him the No. 38 player in the nation. The ranking is the highest ever for a Memphis player entering the season.
Glennon also became the only Tiger to earn three first team all-conference honors last season. He is eyeing a fourth all-conference distinction this season. Glennon boasts an overall 57-26 record in singles at the U of M.
“We’re going to rely on Connor a lot this season,” Goebel said. “That’s the highest we’ve ever had somebody ranked to start the season. I’m really excited for him, and he’s worked hard this summer.”
Goebel said these Fall tournaments will provide Glennon a great opportunity to face some of the top players in the country.
Fellow Tigers Shakeel Manji, Ryan Peniston and Andrew Waston will compete with Glennon in Chicago.
Asser, Tim Srkala and Patrick Mayer travel to Indiana over the weekend to compete at the Purdue University Invitational.
This year’s squad premieres five new Tigers, and Goebel is ready for a similar challenge to four years ago when the seniors from last season first arrived on campus.
“We had a good core group that came in four years ago and helped change and establish our program,” the 11th-year coach said. “They’ve moved on. Now, we have a lot of new guys coming in, and we’ll see what they can do. The expectations are high, but I think they’re ready.”
