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Tennis begins at Texas in 1884

Unlike Texas Basketball, Football, Track And Baseball There Are Very Few Books Or Research Material That Discuss Longhorn tennis.  I Hope With Time This Site Can Add Some Historical Insight And Tell The Full And Compelling Story Of The Texas tennis Tradition. 

In the beginning Competition is primarily limited to UT students and UT organizations.

1901-  D.A. Penick

THE HANDBOOK OF TEXAS SAYS ABOUT COACH PENICK

Joined the University of Texas in 1899 as an instructor. Penick was known in the state and nation as a brilliantly successful tennis coach. In 1901 he led a campaign to get the university to provide tennis equipment for players and to stop charging students for time on the courts. He was an unofficial tennis coach for the university team until 1940, at which time he was put on modified status as professor of classics and tennis coach.

1908- 1957-  Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

While associated with the tennis team he participated in: 

• all ten of the Southwest Conference team titles awarded;
• thirty-one of the forty individual doubles championships;
• twenty-six of the forty individual singles championships;
• five national doubles championships;
• two national singles championships; and 
• coached two members of Davis Cup teams.

Penick served as president of the Southwest Conference for twelve years, from 1923 to 1934, and president of the Texas Tennis Association for more than fifty years. He was voted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 1962.

Penick is a great teacher who conveys his  knowledge of the basics of Tennis to the players.  

1909 Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

Charles Granger was an All American

1911- Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

1913 - Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

1916 - Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

1919 1920-Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

Granger and Drumwright won the doubles in the Southern Inter-collegiate tournament  and Granger won the singles championship. 

1922-Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

Lloyd Gregory is an All American, and he is instrumental in starting the UT Letter winners' T Association.  

1923 and 1924-Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

Lewis White/Louis Thalheimer National Champions in doubles. Lewis White was inducted into the HOH in 1972. (Looking for better pictures.)

One of the best tennis teams of all time. 

1925

Penick had two National Championship teams. Thalheimer won the national championship in singles and Thalheimer and White won the national championship in doubles.  

1926 Coach Penick

This team continued the streak of never losing both the singles and doubles in any meet. They won every dual meet and the SWC Championship.

1927-Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

Wilmer Allison National Champion and future Head Coach of the UT Men's tennis program. TSHA states "At UT he began an internationally acclaimed career as a tennis player. Under the tutelage of Daniel A. Penick he won the Southwest Conference and National Collegiate Athletic Association championships in 1927."  He was the first player ever to win the national intercollegiate singles  championship in his first year of competition

1928 and 1929-Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

Bell won the SWC championship in singles twice and the national championship in 1929.

Wilmer Allison was the best singles player in the country.  He was the first player ever to win the National Intercollegiate sings in his first year of competition.  He and Mather teamed up in doubles and made it all the way to the championship tournament

1931- 1932 Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

Bruce Barnes and Karl Kamrath National Champions

Won the SWC with a perfect season at 10-0.  All the finalists in singles and doubles were Longhorns.   Bruce Barnes won his 3rd straight Southwest Conference championship and  Karl Kamrath  and Barnes won the doubles. 

Bruce Barnes -In three years as a Longhorn he never loses a match. He wins the Southwest Conference singles and doubles championships three consecutive years (1929, 1930, 1931). In 1931, he teams with fellow Texan Karl Kamrath to win the national collegiate doubles title and is a singles finalist the same year. 

1933-1934- 1935 Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

1933 tea, was one of Dr. Penick's best teams .  Considered to be the best balanced in Texas net history, but they met their  match in Stanford. 

1935 team did not have individual stars as in the past.  The team won all of  meets thru the season but lost the SWC to Rice.

 1935 team did not have individual stars as in the past.  The team won all of  mets thru the season but lost the SWC to Rice.  Led by Bruce Baxter, Bert Weltens, Smalley, and Pease the team placed 2nd in  the SWC.

1937- 1938-Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

This team returned 8 letterman and received some national attention by defeating Miami University 5 - 4.   Edgar Weller, Warren Christner, Melvin Lapman and Walthall won their singles matches. Lapman was the hero against Miami. 

In SWC play Kamarath and Weller won the SWC.

Edgar Weller and Bob Kamrath are All Americans, and win doubles together at the SWC championship tournament in 1937 and 1938.  In 1938 Bob  Kamrath was ranked #8 in the nation.

The University of Texas broke ground and initiated construction of the Edgar O. and Melanie A. Weller Tennis Center on the grounds of The University of Texas Golf Club. The $8.8 million facility, which features six indoor tennis courts and four outdoor tennis courts, was dedicated and officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Feb. 27, 2013.

1939-Coach Dr. D.A. Penick Pending

1940-Coach Dr. D.A. Penick Pending

Coach Penick is finally acknowledge as the official UT Tennis Coach.

1941-Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

1942-Coach Dr. D.A. Penick 7-2

The singles championship was a match between two Longhorns with John Hickman defeating Walter Driver for the SWC Championship. The Longhorns lost the doubles match to Rice. 

Captain  Bill Blalock

1943-Coach Dr. D.A. Penick

John Hickman and Walter Driver National Champions

1944- Coach Penick Pending

John Hickman was the 3rd individual to win the SWC three years in a row. 

1945- Coach Penick Pending  SWC champions

Team wins doubles in SWC championship .  Texas record in match play in the SWC was 37-2.

1946  Coach Penick

The first year that the  NCAA recognizes a team champion with a postseason poll.

Team is ranked 4th

1947   Coach Penick

Team is ranked 8th in the nation but Rice wins the SWC.   Mabry, Kelley, Braswell, and Goldfarb were invited to the NCAA tennis tournament.  Kelley and Mabry advanced to the quarter finals before losing to UCLA.  Mabry made it to the round of 16 in singles.  

1948- 34-2  Coach Penick pendng

Southwest Conference begins round-robin play.

SWC Champions

1949- 32-4 Coach Penick pendng

SWC Champions

Team is ranked 7th 

1950- 25-5 Coach Penick pendng

Julian Oats wins the individual conference championship twice and in his last year at Texas is the medalist in golf for the SWC.

1951- 25-5  Coach Penick pendng

Team is ranked 5th - 

SWC Champions

1952- 27-3 Coach Penick pendng

Team is ranked 4th 

SWC Champions

1953- 28-2 Coach Penick pendng

Team is ranked 5th 

1954- 30-0 Coach Penick pendng

Team is ranked 7th 

SWC Champions

1955- 30-0 Coach Penick pendng

Team is ranked 2nd 

SWC Champions

1956- 28-2 Coach Penick pendng

SWC Champions

1957-1973 -  COACH WILMER ALLISON

THE TSHA STATESabout Wilmer Allison" After his discharge(from the War)  he returned to the university in 1947 and served as Penick's assistant until 1957. That year he became the head tennis coach at the university, where he served until his retirement in 1972. He instituted a policy restricting athletic scholarships for tennis to players from Texas. 

• He was the 1927 Southwest Conference singles champion and the national collegiate singles champion.
• As Coach he developed 4 SWC team champions and 4 runners-up.
• Coached players to three single titles and one doubles title.
• In honor of Allison, the "Penick Courts" at the University of Texas were renamed the "Penick-Allison Courts" in 1977.
• He was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the Longhorn Hall of Honor.
• In 1963 he entered the national and international halls of fame.

In  Jack Kramer's autobiography he says that Wilmer Allison had the best forehand volley I ever saw. 

1957  29-1  Coach Wilmer Allison pending

SWC Champions

Team is ranked 3rd - 

Sammy Giammalva is a ITA All American

Team is ranked 3rd - 

1958 24-12 Coach Wilmer Allison pending

1959 28-8  Coach Wilmer Allison Pending

1960 30-6  Coach Wilmer Allison Pending

Team is ranked 4th- no NCAA tournament

TOPPING THE CHARTS IN 1960

Neil Unterseher is an ITA All American

1961  33-3  Coach Wilmer Allison Pending

SWC Champions

Team is ranked 13th nationally - no NCAA tournament

John White is an ITA All American

1962 27-9   Coach Wilmer Allison Pending

Team is ranked 13th nationally

1963 32-4   Coach Wilmer Allison Pending

SWC Champions

Team is ranked 24th nationally

1964 26-10  Coach Wilmer Allison pending

Team is ranked 8th nationally

TOP OF THE CHART 1964

1965  24-12 Coach Wilmer Allison pending

1966- 24-12 Coach Wilmer Allison pending

Team is ranked 20th nationally - no NCAA tournament

TOPPING THE CHARTS 1966

1967- 28-8  Coach Wilmer Allison pending

SWC Champions

Team is ranked 24th nationally

1968- 17-19  Coach Wilmer Allison pending

Team is ranked 32nd

Topping the Charts

1969- 24-10 Coach Wilmer Allison-Pending

Team is ranked 13th nationally

1970- 20-16  Coach Wilmer Allison  Pending

Team is ranked 18th 

1971- 27-15  Coach Wilmer Allison Pending

Team is ranked 36th

1972- 29-13  Coach Wilmer Allison Pending

Team is ranked 18th 

1973- 33-16  Coach Wilmer Allison Pending

Team is ranked 11th 

Coach Snyder said in 2012 that “When I came to UT, I knew we were going to change the culture of this team. Nobody was going to work harder than we were."

Coach Snyder

• Member of the SWC championship teams from 1954-1956

• Team captain and SWC doubles champion in 1956

•  1985 Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Association National Coach of the Year

•  Member of Texas Tennis Hall of Fame

• Most victories of  active NCAA Division I men's tennis coach's and ranked No. 2 on the all-time list with 697 career wins.

• HOH  inductee 1988

1973 Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 11th

1974 31-18   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 13th 

1975 21-6    Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

Team is ranked 11th 

1976 22-4    Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

Team is ranked 11th 

1977 25-7     Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

The NCAA authorizes a single elimination tournament for the top 16 teams to determine a National Champion. 

SWC Champions

Steve Denton is an ITA All American in 1978 and a 1990 inductee into the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame. 

Gary Plock is an ITA All American in 1977 and 1978

1979 17-8    Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

SWC Champions

Kevin Curren - National Champion and All American in 1977, 1978, and 1979. 

1980 16-8   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is not ranked

1981 13-8    Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 17th - 

ITA national ranking system begins. 

Since 1981 Texas has been ranked in the top 13 times 

1982 16-8   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 13th

1983 16-11   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Texas makes the round of 16  in postseason and is ranked 11th.  

Jonny Levine is an ITA All American in 1983 and 1984 and finishes 2nd in the nation in singles.

1984 20-5   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 11th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

1985 26-5   Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

 makes the quarter finals  in postseason.  

1986 18-4   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 7th - makes the quarter finals in postseason.  

Charles Beckman is an ITA All American in 1985, 1986, and 1987. 

Charles Beckman and Royce Deppe (no picture) are ranked nationally # 5 in 1984,  # 2 in 1986, and #3 in 1987 in doubles.

1987 16-6   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 15th - makes the quarterfinals  in postseason.  

1988 19-7   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 15th - makes the quarter finals  in postseason.  

1989-11-12  Coach Dave Snyder Pending

1990 22-2  Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

SWC Tournament Champions

Team is ranked 7th - makes the quarter finals in postseason.  

Team is ranked 7th - makes the quarter finals in postseason.  

TOP SONG

Mitch Michulka and Michael Penman are 2nd in the nation in doubles.

Steve Bryan National Champion

Steve Bryan wins the National Championship, and is an All American in 1989 and 1990. His career winning percentage is the highest winning percentage in the history of Texas Tennis at .822. 

Steve is the 4th Longhorn to win a NCAA singles championship and he is inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Men's Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007. 

1991 14-7   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 21st  

1992 14-10  Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 19th - makes the quarter finals   in postseason.  

1993 21-5    Coach Dave Snyder Pending

SWC Regular season and tournament Champions

Semi-finals- Best ranking during Coach Snyder tenure @ #5

1994 20-5  Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

SWC co-Regular season Champions

Team is ranked 7th - makes the quarter finals in postseason.  

Quarterfinals

Chad Clark  is one of only 3 Longhorns to  finish in the top 10 in singles and doubles.  He is the only Longhorn to complete this feat twice. He finishes 8th in the Nation in 1994. 

Chad Clark and Trey Phillips are ranked #4 in the nation in 1995 and 6th in 1994 in doubles.

1995 19-5   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

SWC Regular season Champions

Team is ranked 9th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

1996 19-7   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 13th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

1997 26-6   Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Big 12 regular season and Big 12 tournament Champions

Team is ranked 10th - makes the quarter finals in postseason.  

1998 24-5  Coach Dave Snyder  Pending

Big 12 regular season champions

Team is ranked 5th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

1999 25-5  Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Big 12 regular season and Big 12 tournament Champions

The NCAA tournament is expanded from 16 teams to 64-teams. 

Team is ranked 9th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

2000 20-7 Coach Dave Snyder Pending

Team is ranked 16th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

Michael Blue and Nick Crowell are ranked 10th nationally in doubles.

Coach Michael Center 2001 to present

Record at Texas thru 2015 is 305-109 in 15 years

• 2007 U.S. Professional Tennis Association National College Coach of the Year
• Big 12 Coach of the Year 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
• 305-109 record 
• Region V Coach of the Year- 1994 and 1995
• Final 4 appearances three times 
• 2006 highest ranking as Number 3 
• 4th Tennis Coach in the history of Tennis at Texas 
• 12- Round of 16 appearances
• 4- Conference Championships
• 2- Tournament titles
• 15 All Americans
• 4 Big 12 Conference Players of the Year
• 67All-Big 12 singles and double selections
• 54Academic Big 12 selections

2001 - 18-6  Coach Michael Center 

Team is ranked 23rd - makes the second round  in postseason.  

2002   23-4  Coach Michael Center Pending

Team is ranked 15th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

Jose Zarhi and Rodrigo Echagaray finish 6th nationally in doubles 

2003  19-7    Coach Michael Center Pending

Team is ranked 13th - makes the round of 16  in postseason and the 12 consecutive NCAA appearance.  

Jean Simon and Jose Zarhi win the Big 12 doubles championship

2004  15-12   Coach Michael Center pending

Antonio Ruiz and Jose Zarhi with the Big 12 double championship

Team is ranked 36th - makes the second round in postseason.  

2005  13-10   Coach Michael Center pending

Team is ranked 28th - makes the second round  in postseason.  

2006  26-4   Coach Michael Center pending

Big 12 Co-regular season and Big 12 tournament Champions

Semi-Finals In Postseason And Highest Ranking (3) In Texas Tennis History. 

University of Texas senior Callum Beale and Travis Helgeson and freshman Miguel Reyes Varela officially earned All-America status from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

Callum Beale and Miguel Reyes-Varela are ranked 8th nationally in doubles. 

Travis Helgeson is ranked 7th in the nation in singles.

2007  20-9  Coach Michael Center pending

Round of 16

Jon Wiegand receives the Provost Awards for posting a perfect 4.0 GPA during at least one semester in 2007. 

Team is ranked 12th - qualifies for round of 16 in postseason.  

Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala are the Big 12 doubles champions

2008  25-6   Coach Michael Center

Big 12 co-regular season champions

Runner Up To Georgia For NCAA- Highest finish ever in a NCAA National Championship tournament.

Ricardo is 2008 ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year and he is three-time ITA South Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year (2002, 2006, 2008)

Kellen Damico and Ed Corrie 2008 ITA All-American (doubles)

2009  23-7  Coach Michael Center

Team is ranked 9thmakes the final 4 for the 3rd time in Longhorn Tennis history.

Dimitar Kutrvsky becomes Texas all-time winningest player with 230 victories. He is one of only three Longhorns to finish in the top 10 in singles and doubles. He is ranked 8th Nationally in 2010.

2010   27-3  Coach Michael Center

Big 12 regular season and Big 12 tournament Champions

Team is ranked 4th - makes the round of 16  in postseason.  

Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala are ranked 7th in doubles in 2010.

2011   19-9   Coach Michael Center 

Team is ranked 16th - loses in the second round of postseason.  

Ed Corrie and Jean anderson are ranked 8th nationally in doubles.

Team is ranked 16th - loses in the second round of postseason.  

2012 16-10 Coach Michael Center 

Ranked 27th - loses in the first round of postseasons 

2013  17-9 Coach Michael Center

Team makes 2nd round of postseason and is ranked 23rd. 

Chris Camillone, David Holiner, and

Seren Hess-Olesen make the All American team.

2013 17- 9 Coach Michael Center

Team reaches the quarter final round for the NCAA matches. 

Ranked #23 nationally

2014  23-6 Coach Michael Center

Big 12 co-regular season Champions

Team is ranked 8th 

For the first time in program history, Texas Men's Tennis advanced to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships .

Tennis Courts are demolished 

Seren Hess-Olesen wins the Big 12 singles championship

2015  21-7 Coach Michael Center

Team is ranked 9th and makes the round of 16

Søren Hess-Olesen is one of six players in the nation to finish top-15 in both the singles  and doubles  polls. He is the 6th Longhorn to finish in the top 10 in singles . He is the ITA Senior Player of the Year and ranked 6th in the nation in 2015.

Loyd Glasspool is a ITA All American in singles and doubles

Søren Hess-Olesen and Loyd Glasspool NCAA double champions.