By Alex Riley
Special to SMUMustangs.com
DALLAS – Like so many others on the SMU men's tennis roster, Huntley Allen can see the end of the road.
A graduate student entering his fifth-year of competition, Allen knows his days as a collegiate competitor are drawing to a close. It's a theme running up and down the Mustang roster as the 14-player ensemble features eight student-athletes who are seniors or older, with no true freshmen.
"I think we have a really old team this year, at least old as far as college goes. We have a lot of fifth-years and seniors," Allen said. "I think we'll lose something like eight or so guys at the end of this year, so there's a sense of urgency that people are trying to take into this season to really make it count. I think everyone is super excited and there's a lot to look forward to."
Experience is certainly on SMU's side as the 2023-24 season gets set to begin with the fall portion of the schedule at the Milwaukee Tennis Classic on Sept. 22.
In all, 13 of the 14 players on this year's team are juniors or older and everyone comes to the court with some prior experience playing at the college level. SMU picked up four players in the 2023 signing class, all of which were Division I transfers.
While a full grasp of the rigors of collegiate tennis is an added bonus, the Mustangs know it only matters if that prior experience translates to success. After all, the SMU program returned an abundance of talent last season and nearly ended up missing the postseason all together.
In 2021-22, SMU rolled through the year with 22 wins, remained perfect against American Athletic Conference foes and went 7-0 in true road matches. A year later and with a majority of the team back from the previous season, things were vastly different. The Mustangs managed to reach 18 wins, three of which came from winning the AAC Tournament. The team won just two true road matches all year and struggled through a four-match losing skid in April that put the season in jeopardy.
Sixth-year coach Grant Chen labels it a tale of two seasons, and while they both had the same end result getting to the finish line was certainly more enjoyable two years ago.
"Last year, we had all this hype and expectation as well and for the most part of the season we were playing below average. And then we kind of all brought it together there towards the end of the season," Chen said. "Going into this year, I think we're taking it with some new goals and these guys are looking forward to the opportunity to really start a new chapter at the end of their careers. We have to remember that we are in control of our fate."
With more than 50 percent of the singles victories from last year returning to the team and so much prior tennis experience up and down the roster, the Mustangs enter the season confident they can capture a third straight AAC Tournament title and reach the NCAAs once again.
And, ultimately, they'd like to do more than that. The program hasn't won an NCAA Tournament match since reaching the Sweet 16 in 2016.
To get there, they'll need everyone playing at a high level down the back stretch. The work players put in now is crucial to making that happen.
"I think for us collectively, the focus is each day to kind of keep working hard, keep working on the things we need to do so we can be peaking at the right time," sophomore Jerry Barton said, a Furman transfer. "I know Grant and (associate head coach Ben Johnson) want all of us playing our best tennis in April, there's no doubt about it. We're in September, so right now it's about working hard and preparing for a three-peat."
