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35|35 Anniversary Website
This is the 29th installment of a series of 35 moments, milestones, and facts that will be featured throughout the 2013-14 academic year to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Over the past 35 years of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, a handful of men’s and women’s tennis teams have reigned supreme among its conference competitors, winning five or more league championships in impressive fashion.
When analyzing the breakdown of winners by year, it is hard to dismiss some of the streaks of success select GLVC squads had in the conference.
On the men’s side, Bellarmine owns a league-high eight GLVC titles, followed by Southern Indiana and Indianapolis with seven crowns each. Drury and former league foe Northern Kentucky share fifth overall with five GLVC titles each to their credit.
Bellarmine was simply the program of the 1980s as the Knights captured six straight league titles from 1980-85. After a two-year lull, BU was back on top in 1988 and then earned its final championship award in 1996.
That 1996 title put a stop to another GLVC Championship winning streak put together by Indianapolis. After winning the inaugural conference title in 1979, and then again 10 years later in 1989, the Greyhounds reeled off five consecutive championships from 1991-95, the latter of which was the last time UIndy sat atop the league charts.
Southern Indiana, which is tied with the Greyhounds for seven titles all-time, hit its streak at the turn of the century, winning in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002. The Screaming Eagles then took home the 2005 trophy and would not win again until the 2013 event. USI will take to the courts this weekend at Dwight Davis Tennis Center in St. Louis to see if another title streak can begin.
Two former conference members were able to claim back-to-back championships during their tenure in the league as Northern Kentucky won in 1986 and 1987, as well as 2003 and 2004, with a 1990 victory sandwiched in between. SIU Edwardsville left the GLVC a two-time conference champion, having won in both 1997 and 1998.
Last year’s victory by USI was also a milestone win for members of the GLVC’s East Division as teams from the West had a conference championship winning streak of seven years up to that point. Drury earned three of its five league crowns in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and have since responded with wins in 2010 and 2012. When the Panthers were not taking the GLVC title back to Springfield, West Division foe Rockhurst was the proud winner of the league’s hardware. The Hawks earned both the 2009 and 2011 conference championships.
Teams, or in this case just one team, representing the West Division have played a dominant role in recent history on the women’s side. With exception of Lewis’ GLVC title in 2012, Drury has claimed six of the last seven conference titles, including five straight from 2007-2011. The Lady Panthers are the defending GLVC Champions and will look to begin a new streak this weekend in St. Louis.
“We have been fortunate to have been able to enjoy some success since coming into the league,” said Drury head coach Jarrod Smith. “Since 2006, our men have won a total of five GLVC titles and the women have one six. I think the success of the program, both men’s and women’s, lies squarely upon the shoulders of the athletes on the team. They have built a philosophy of commitment to each other and to adding to the history of tennis at Drury.”
Drury’s win in 2013 quickly put the squad in select company as one of four teams to have won six or more league crowns in conference history. Indianapolis leads the way with eight titles, followed by Saint Joseph’s with seven and Northern Kentucky with six. Southern Indiana is the only other team to have won more the one GLVC Championship as the Screaming Eagles have garnered three titles in program history. Bellarmine, Lewis and SIU Edwardsville have each won the conference once.
While UIndy’s success might not have come in streaks per se, the Greyhounds certainly won in spurts. After earning the program’s first title in 1988, UIndy went back-to-back in 1990 and 1991, and then followed with wins in 1993 and 1996. Following a five-year drought, the Hounds would then claim three of the next four conference championships, including the 2002, 2004 and 2005 titles.
Saint Joseph’s earned the first three of their seven league titles in style as the Pumas were just the second program at the time to have ever posted a three-peat. In fact, Southern Indiana won its lone three titles in the same fashion, claiming the top spot in 1981, 1982 and 1983. Saint Joseph’s then took charge of the league in 1984, 1985 and 1986, and would later go on to capture consecutive crowns in 1991 and 1992, as well as titles in 1994 and 1997.
Much like what Lewis did to Drury in 2012, UIndy’s 2002 GLVC Championship ended a streak of four straight titles by Northern Kentucky from 1998-2001, but the Norse quickly rebounded in 2003 to garner their sixth and final GLVC title, which was their fifth in six years. NKU also claimed the 1987 league crown.
In terms of individual success, GLVC records showcase several impressive streaks throughout the years.
On the women’s side, three individuals have hit for the proverbial cycle by sweeping GLVC Player of the Year honors all four years they were on campus. Indianapolis’ June Wernke was named the league’s top player in each of the four seasons spanning 1986-89, while Saint Joseph’s Mary Quasney took home the hardware from 1991-94, as did Northern Kentucky’s Jamie O’Hara from 1988-2001. Should she win her third straight GLVC Player of the Year accolade on Thursday, Lewis’ Zsofia Lanstiak could join the elite company of the three aforementioned standouts as the only players to have ever won the sport’s top honor at least three times.
Lanstiak’s mentor, Brett Bridel, could also join select company Thursday if he is awarded his third straight GLVC Coach of the Year distinction. Only current Drury head coach Jarrod Smith has won three consecutive awards from the conference, as he shared the accolade with Bellarmine’s John Mican in 2007 before winning the outright award in 2008 and 2009.
There is no such streak on the men’s side, however three individuals have earned three-peats of GLVC Coach of the Year honors over the years, led by UIndy’s Joe Gentry (1991-94), Southern Indiana’s Jon Mark Hall (1997-2000), and Drury’s Amine Boustani (2006-08). Hall, the current USI athletics director, owns a conference-best five GLVC Coach of the Year awards as he was also recognized by his peers in 2002. Chris Crawford, who played on Hall’s award-winning teams, is the reigning GLVC Coach of the Year at USI, having earned his second career accolade following his initial honor in 2010.
“Jon Mark Hall was the ultimate leader in my eyes; he was a father figure to myself and my teammates,” Crawford said. “He inspired us to always leave everything we had on the court, and as players we won for our coach. He is a mentor to me and my decision to follow his footsteps as a college tennis coach reflects that.”
Over the past seven years, three men’s players have garnered back-to-back GLVC Player of the Year awards, leaving only Andi Dimke of Missouri-St. Louis in 2009 as a single honoree. Drury’s Stefan Borg was selected by the coaches in 2007 and 2008, while Andy Blair is the two-time defending Player of the Year in the league. Lewis’ Uno Lapimaa was the GLVC’s top player in both 2010 and 2011.