When head coach Brandon Currie took over as the leader of the men’s tennis program prior to the start of the 2005-06 season, he knew that IUPUI tennis had the potential to be great. Currie, a Milwaukee, Wis.-native, competed against players from Indiana during his prep days before becoming more familiar with the talent the state had to offer during his collegiate days at Butler University. During his college career, in which he finished as the most prolific player in Bulldogs history, he truly witnessed how much talent lies within the state lines. Through that experience and his six seasons leading IUPUI, he has filled his roster with student-athletes from across the Hoosier State helping put the IUPUI men’s tennis program on the doorstep of achieving something that has never been done in program history.

 

During Currie’s first season at IUPUI, the Jaguars posted a 1-17 overall record, with their lone win coming in conference play. Despite the rough opening campaign, Currie knew that if he continued to recruit within the state that the program would begin to gain some notoriety.

 

“I’ve always believed that Indiana has some of the best tennis talent in the country,” Currie said. “Being an in-state school, it’s our job to recruit in-state first and we don’t have to stray too far from Indianapolis to attract great student-athletes.”

 

Though it has taken some time, Currie has elevated the program from one win during his first season, to nine this past year with a roster consisting of nine Indiana products.

 

Seven players from this most recent campaign were on the squad two years ago and took in their first taste of conference tournament action when IUPUI made a trip to the Summit League Tournament following a one-year absence. All seven of those players were freshmen and sophomores when they took on top-seeded Oral Roberts in the tournament semifinals, a team the Jags had already beaten earlier in the season. Feeling confident based upon the regular-season triumph, IUPUI’s lack of experience showed its face against the Golden Eagles as they dealt the Jaguars a quick exit and abruptly ended their season.

 

“That loss was pretty heartbreaking as we expected to be in the finals that year and it made everybody realize that we didn’t accomplish our goal and we had a lot more work to do,” senior Bren Vasalakis said.

 

For those seven players, that loss served as motivation during the summer to work hard and continue to improve so they could return to the Summit League Tournament, move on to the championship match, and receive a berth to the NCAA Tournament, a feat that has never been accomplished in program history.

 

The core members from the 2009-10 squad that were coming back for the 2010-11 season were Armando Diaz, Dan Klingenberg, Joel Modesitt, Deon Shafer, Taylor Tunis, Vasalakis, and Nick Volz -- six of which hail from Indiana.

 

Combine those returners with talented newcomers such as Ivan Mojsejev, a native of Serbia who transferred from Chicago State, and freshmen Aaron Anderson, Chase Emerson, and Joe Hammond, Currie knew that the 2010-11 group had the ability to continue to take this program to heights that had not been reached before.

 

With injuries to two of their veteran returners, Tunis and Shafer, the newcomers got thrown into the fire immediately and IUPUI got off to a slow start to the 2010-11 slate. However, a redemption win of sorts at Oral Roberts in the conference opener served as a turning point for the team.

 

“We had some adversity at the beginning of the season with Taylor and Deon facing injuries, but that day [against Oral Roberts] everybody bought into the game plan and we played really well,” Vasalakis said. “We put it together and everybody believed in one another and our belief following that match carried us the rest of the season.”

 

The Jags ran with the momentum from that win to a 4-2 Summit League mark and a win in the regular-season finale over Butler, the first win against the Bulldogs in program history. More importantly, that 4-2 league mark sent IUPUI back to the conference tournament in search of their ultimate goal.

 

Learning from past experience, the third-seeded Jaguars overcame a regular-season setback to Western Illinois and defeated the Leathernecks in the tournament semifinals, 4-2, to advance to the conference championship match, marking IUPUI’s third appearance in a conference tournament final and first under Currie’s leadership.

 

Staring at history, IUPUI had its chances against UMKC in the tournament finale, but fell just short to the Kangaroos, 4-2. In spite of the loss, the Jaguars took another step towards their goal and know that they must work even harder this off-season to clear that final hurdle.

 

“That loss in the championship final definitely motivates each of us to work harder and get better this summer,” Mojsejev said. “After a tough season with a very tough schedule, we were one step away from reaching our goal. That was a horrible feeling to lose in the finals and I would hate to experience that again, so I'll do everything to improve my game and come up stronger this upcoming season and hopefully help our team win the title.”

 

While Tunis played sparingly this past year due to injury, Shafer missed the entire season and their presence back on the court will further bolster the depth on the roster.

 

“Deon will definitely be a great addition to our team next season,” Mojsejev added. “He is a great leader and he knows how to bring out that fire in each of us, which is very important in order to play our best in every match we play.”

 

While Shafer works hard in rehab and in tournaments this summer to prepare for his return to competition, his ultimate goal is to contribute and help the team attain a conference crown, something that he watched his teammates fall just short of this season.

 

“Being able to mark the history books and reach the NCAA’s is obviously something we want to accomplish as a team and that is our focus,” Shafer said. “Seeing other teams win the conference, like our women’s soccer team did my freshmen year, you see the excitement and everything that gets thrown into that and that’s what we want. That’s what we need to think of when we’re running, when we’re tired, when we’re practicing, so we can make the NCAA Tournament and put IUPUI tennis on the map.”

 

For the upcoming season, Currie has inked three talented players in Thomas Gans, Jacob Bradley, and Patrick O’Neill to National Letters of Intent to further reinforce the roster for the upcoming quest towards a championship. Similar to how he’s built this team, Bradley and O’Neill come to Indianapolis from Plainfield, Ind., and Carmel, Ind., respectively, while Gans, who stands 6’8”, makes his way to campus from Plano, Texas.

 

“These freshmen will bring a great spark to the team and each will push their teammates to achieving new goals,” Currie said. We are planning on having very competitive practices next season, and this will definitely prepare us for a very demanding schedule.”

 

In just six short years, the IUPUI tennis program has been constructed to compete for a conference title and a possible NCAA Tournament berth. While these may seem like lofty expectations for a program that won just match six years ago, it’s a challenge it welcomes.

 

“We all look at as this season is a great opportunity for us,” Vasalakis added. “We are not looking at it as a situation to be scared of, but more of a situation that we hunger for. I think this next year with what we have, if we don’t win the conference tournament then it would definitely be disappointing, but it won’t be because we didn’t work hard enough this offseason.”