Men's Tennis Overview/Updated July 2006
July 12, 2006
St. Thomas annually fields competitive tennis teams with high-quality individuals.
Head coach Terry Peck is beginning his 17th season at St. Thomas, and his teams are consistent top-three MIAC finishers and ranked among the best in the region. Peck coached his 450th match with the Tommies in 2006. He has a combined men's and women's dual record of 344-111 (.756 win%).
Over the last nine seasons, UST had five seconds and three thirds in the men's conference standings and an overall dual record of 127-43. Peck's men's teams are 178-69 since 1994.
The Tommies also regularly post an excellent team grade-point average of 3.40 and higher. They've had two CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in the last five years -- Jacob Kraus (3.94 gpa) in 2002 and Tut Fuller (3.99 gpa) in 2005.
St. Thomas finished with a 16-4 dual-meet record in 2005 and 15-6 in 2004.
The 1999 Tommies finished 8-1 in conference dual meets and 15-3 overall for the season, taking second in the MIAC. The 2000 Tommies were invited to the NCAA tournament -- the school's first postseason berth since 1993 -- and finished 15-2 in duals. Matt Hering reached the NCAA singles tournament in 2000 and capped his career 59-22 in singles and 59-15 in doubles. In 2001-2002, the Tommies just missed an NCAA playoff berth. They lost just two dual meets to Division III teams in a 16-3 finish. The 2002-03 Tommies placed second in the conference and finished 15-5 in duals.
St. Thomas has newly resurfaced tennis courts both indoors at Coughlan Field House and outdoors on the south campus.
The men's tennis team has approximately a dozen members. The Tommies take an annual spring trip, either to Hilton Head, S.C., or to Arizona. They also play the best teams from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.