Tennis ( Men's and Women's )

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Tennis

In 1898 the Tennis Association at Columbian University (former name of GW) was making arrangements for a Varsity Tournament to be played on the "Bachelor's Courts" early in June. In 1899 the Tennis Association had their own courts and the game became even more important at the University.

For the 1910 season the Association secured top soil from an area behind the White House. The soil was being discarded for construction purposes. After permission was secured GW students transported the top soil to the Northwest section of the city where it was rebuilt into tennis courts. Leaders in this activity were J.H. Waters, J.F. Seler and C.R. Lombard of the GW Tennis Club.

In the spring of 1916 tennis was made a university sport by action of the Faculty Committee on Athletics. Fenton Fadeley was appointed manager. Try-outs for the team were held in Potomac Park. The Cherry Tree announced in 1920 that "the Men's tennis team had this year for the first time since before the war (WWI) a worth-while schedule of matches--Pennsylvania and Virginia. By 1927 the Women's varsity tennis team had completed three consecutive undefeated seasons. Virginia Hopkins was the Coach.

The Colonial Tennis team won their second straight Southern Conference Championship in 1958 behind the leadership of Jim Tarr. By 1965 the Colonial Netmen had won their eighth conference championship in the last nine years. Bill Shreve was the tennis coach during this period. In 1991 Shreve was inducted into the GW Athletic Hall of Fame.

Women's Tennis, in 1984, became the first GW sport to capture an Atlantic 10 championship. Also, the Women's team was the only GW team ever to win back-to-back Atlantic 10 titles ('92 and '93). In 1994 Lisa Shafran became GW's all-time winningest women's player with 70 career victories. Team-mate Ellen Novoseletsky was second with 68.

The GW tennis teams formerly played at Hains Point, located near the gateway to East Potomac Park just southeast of the Jefferson Memorial. Today, the tennis teams play at The George Washington University at Mount Vernon College.

Joe Mesmer began as head coach of the men's team in the mid' 80s. He later became coach of the Women's tennis team. Mesmer was a four-time Atlantic 10 Conference "Coach of the Year." He was the first GW coach to win this accolade for both the men's and women's teams of a sport. Jeanne Gengler Swiacki coached the women's team through the 2000/2001 season. Helen Andrews is in her first year as head coach of the women's tennis team. A 1998 graduate of GW, Andrews was one of Colonials’ best women’s tennis players from 1995-98. She played the No. 1 singles position and was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year as a junior in 1997. The Colonials' team captain, Andrews also earned A-10 All-Conference honors as a junior in 1997.

Greg Munoz is entering his first season as the head coach for men's tennis at The George Washington University. He will be responsible for all aspects of the Colonials men's tennis program.

Munoz replaces former coach Tom Hawkins, who resigned after eight years at GW to pursue other interests. Munoz spent the past year as a volunteer assistant for the Colonials under Hawkins.

Dawn Buth is in her third year as head coach of The George Washington University women's tennis program. Last year she guided the Colonials to seven wins for the second consecutive year. In her first season, GW finished with seven wins, including three victories at the conference championship to finish 5th in the A-10, and helped Anastasia Skavronskaia earn all-conference honors. In the classroom, seven of her athletes combined to earn nine A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll accolades.

Document Information

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Photographic Credit: n/a
Author or Source: Cherry Tree; GW Sports Media Guides; Sports Information Office
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: G. David Anderson, University Archivist and Historian

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