 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
Men's Tennis Home | |
|
Carl Neufeld enters his 15th year as head men's tennis coach at SMU. During his tenure on the Hilltop, he has compiled the most wins of any men's tennis coach (259) and a .676 winning percentage. On March 12, 2005, SMU defeated Illinois State to give Neufeld his 400th career victory. His career coaching record now stands at 440-228 and because of his success, Neufeld has been named WAC Coach of the Year three times, Dallas All-Sports Association SMU Coach of the Year twice and ITA Region VI Coach of the Year in 1998. Neufeld's success continues, as he has led his squad to the NCAAs 10 of the last 11 years. His 10-year consecutive streak was broken last season The 2005-06 campaign marked the 20th time in Mustang history that SMU earned a post-season berth. The decade-long streak ranks 17th overall in consecutive appearances by all teams in the NCAA. Under Neufeld, SMU won three conference titles and never finished outside of the top five in any final conference standings. He has coached 11 All-Americans in his 13 years, as well as one individual to WAC Player of the Year honors and another to WAC Freshman of the Year. In addtion, Neufeld has coached several players to top-five rankings in the region. Last season, Alex Skrypko won second in the South Central Regional tournament. In 2005-06, Peter Oredsson won the regional tournament title outright. Neufeld annually produces some of the top student-athletes in the country. In 15 seasons, 20 individuals have finished ranked in the top 85 in the ITA rankings. Of those 20, two were in the top 50, four were in the top 25 and two individuals finished the season ranked in the top 10. His players also have national success in doubles play. Since 1998, Neufeld has guided nine pairings to ITA top-50 doubles rankings. Five of those duos finished among the top 25, with two tandems finishing in the top five, highlighted by an NCAA runner-up finish in 2001. Neufeld led SMU to arguably its finest season ever in 2000-01, as two Mustangs won national titles while the team reached the Final Four at the NCAA Championships for the first time since 1986. The team reached the Final Four by defeating second-ranked UCLA. The accomplishment earned him his second WAC Coach of the Year honor. After an 11-year absence from the NCAA Team Championships, Neufeld led SMU to the pinnacle of collegiate tennis in 1998 with its 11th appearance in the team championships. In only its second year in the WAC, SMU tore through opponents and registered a 21-5 record, the school's first 20-win campaign since 1987, not to mention an undefeated 9-0 mark against conference opponents and the school's first conference title since 1987. In 1997, the Mustangs returned to NCAA postseason action for the first time in 10 years. Three players notched at least 20 singles wins, including current assistant coach Ignacio Hirigoyen, who became the first Mustang to win 30 singles matches in a season. Neufeld was appointed to the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Committee for a three-year term starting in 2006. The committee is compiled of administrators and coaches from men's and women's tennis programs throughout the nation. The committee is in charge of all championships and selection of teams as well as general information, rules and regulations for tennis programs. They will also serve as NCAA representatives at various tennis events. Taking an aggressive approach to SMU and the Dallas tennis community, Neufeld was the driving force behind bringing the ITA Indoor Collegiate Championships to Dallas in 1994. Neufeld was also the tournament director for the championships all 10 years that it was held in Dallas. Due in part to Neufeld's efforts, Texas is emerging as one of the best tennis-playing regions in the country. Neufeld came to the Hilltop after serving four years as the assistant coach at Southern California, where he helped guide the Trojans to three consecutive Pac-10 titles and two NCAA Championships in 1991 and 1993. These were the most successful seasons in school history. The Trojans' national title in 1991 was their first in 15 years and they won three straight Pac- 10 championships for the first time since 1966-68. While at USC, he coached nine NCAA All-Americans whose professional wins include Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon, the French Open, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. Prior to coming to SMU, Neufeld was active in the Los Angeles tennis community. He served a variety of positions, which focused on raising funds for tennis programs for underprivileged children. Before starting at Southern Cal in 1990, Neufeld was the head tennis coach at Northern Illinois for nine seasons (1980-89). At age 22 in 1980, Neufeld was the youngest head tennis coach in the nation at the time. During his stint in Dekalb, he became the winningest coach in NIU history with a 181-104 record (.635). On his path to the wins record, Neufeld defeated schools from major conference such as the BIG E, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-10, highlighted by three wins over perennial national power Notre Dame. His last four teams at Northern all won 20 or more dual matches and combined for a 112-42 (.727) record.
SMU, the only Division I athletic program in Dallas, Texas, sponsors
17 sports and has been ranked as the top school in its conference for 10 straight years in the Director's Cup overall athletic rankings. More information about SMU and its coaches, athletes and teams is available at www.SMUMustangs.com.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Men's Tennis |  |
|
|
||
|
||
|
||
 |
|
