Coming off an NAIA National Championships quarterfinal appearance last year, the No. 8 Owls men's tennis team's challenge this season will be to remain a threat at nationals with an entirely new lineup under first-year coach Abigail Lemberger Hughes, who graduated from William Woods University in December 2018 and was a member of its 2016-17 women's tennis team, recently inducted WWU's Athletics Hall of Fame.

"We have a very young team this year," Hughes said. "We have a lot of freshmen and then a few transfers coming in. I think you look at the team from last year, and it's pretty much a brand new team this spring for me as a coach. I love that I'm able to make it my team instead of stepping into someone's shoes. I think being able to do that is something that excites me. I think we have a lot of potential. 

"We are very young, so it's going to take some time to shape that potential. I think playing college tennis is very different. It's much louder. It's a team thing, and some people do really well with that. I truly believe that we have the talent to stay within the rankings to be very competitive. The goal for me is going to be get to that conference tournament and show up and win. I don't expect anything less than to make nationals. Is it going to be hard? For sure, we have a young team, but I do think the talent we have is feasible and it's doable, and we're going to do it."

While aiming for those postseason goals, Hughes also stresses character and responsibility with her players.

"I definitely want us to be - I know a lot of people use this word - great leaders and good sportsmanship on the court," Hughes said. "I think playing with integrity for me is more important. Of course, winning is at the forefront of what I want to do here, but being able to win and win the right way is something that I'm very passionate about. I want to emphasize that to my players. If we're gonna go out there and win, I like to say, 'Let's win the Woods way.' That is being honest and doing things right. 

"Tennis is unique in terms of we don't really have referees or umpires (at the NAIA level - players usually make the calls) at most of our matches - at the bigger events we do. But for the most part, you're responsible for your own line calling, for keeping score and that can get a little tricky when tensions run high. So for me, making sure my players play with that integrity of, 'This is how it's gonna go, and we're gonna do it correctly.' That's very, very important to me." 

Speaking of importance, an important mentor in Hughes' tennis journey has been Chance Joost, the Owls' head tennis coach prior to her. In Joost's final season as WWU coach, Hughes was named the 2023-24 ITA Assistant Men's Coach of the Year for the Central Region, and last season was her first and only as the Owls' assistant before taking the reins from Joost, undoubtedly the most successful coach in the program's history. Outside of Joost, Hughes also credits her coaches from back home in Newcastle, England.

"I had really great coaches in England, and they showed me how fun coaching could be," Hughes said. "I think it's very easy for people to leave college and they go into the corporate world. To be able to actually work in something I truly enjoy, every day is a new challenge, it's different every day. So, I'd say my coaches back home really motivated me, but since leaving, I've had great mentors. 

"The coach that was here previously, Chance Joost, he was a great mentor for me and just really helping me learn the ropes. I think if I hadn't have worked under him last year, I don't know if I would have felt truly ready to step up and take on the challenge this year, but he really gave me a lot of knowledge. He was a great mentor in himself. But, just the love for the game, and how my coaches showed me the love for the game growing up. My brother also played tennis in America, so that made me more competitive. If he can do it, I want to do it. So, that was that. But my family always loved sports, and I think I invested so much time in it as a child. To be able to then use that post college is huge." 

Focusing on Hughes' men's team, she expects William Woods to excel in singles, while doubles will take some figuring out.

"I'd say we're definitely singles driven," Hughes said. "Doubles is going to be a work in progress. We definitely have some exciting pairings that can work. But with it being a young team, a lot of these people have played singles their whole lives, and doubles has not necessarily been something a lot of them have done. I'm hoping to show up and win those singles points, which is also a good and a bad thing. We start matches with doubles matches, and hopefully, if we can find the right pairings, then that can give a lot of confidence leading in to singles. But I do think our strengths are going to be that the team really gets along with one another. They're going to support each other, regardless of who's out there playing. Yeah, it's going to be teamwork, and we're going to have to do it as a team."

Despite this being Hughes' first campaign at the helm, she expects to add more silverware to William Woods' already-loaded trophy cabinet.

"I definitely would like for us to win conference," Hughes said. "I do think we have some tricky competitors this year. I've seen some of the other schools we play and their roster, and they're looking pretty solid. They've got a lot of players that are going to test our players. So, I'm definitely looking for us to stay competitive again. We're going to have to put in the work. It's not going to be something where we just show up, and it's handed to us. We're going to work hard. My goal is to ultimately lift that trophy at the end of conference."

A pair of senior transfers will lead the Owls this season, Noah Burton, ranked 40th in the latest ITA NAIA men's single rankings released Nov. 14, and Duarte Melo, ranked 49th in singles. Burton transferred to WWU from NCAA Division II University of Illinois Springfield and was on Abraham Baldwin Agriculture College's 2022 NJCAA national championship team. Melo came to WWU from NCAA Division I Siena College, where in a more challenging level, went 6-7 in singles (0-4 at No. 4, 3-3 at No. 5 and 2-0 at No. 6) in 2023-24.

"(Burton) brings a lot of experience," Hughes said. "He's a senior, so his experience of playing in college tennis is huge for us. Duarte Melo, as well. He's also a senior. He's going to be one of our top guys out there. Both of them, I'm relying on them a little bit to help bring the younger guys up and helm them get through the process with their experience. I'd say without them, it would definitely be tough. They bring a lot of knowledge. They bring a lot of energy.

"I think that's important for me. Noah's a very loud character, I love that. He's all about the team. He's going to be behind every teammate's court, yelling, and then when he's on the court, he's making sure everyone's doing good. Duarte, he's a type of player who I can say, 'Hey, go get the job done,' and he's focused. He's hyper-focused on what the job is. I think having that experience and coming into our team this year is really going to help us, especially with the young team this year." 

On the young side of the roster, a few freshmen to look out for are Cole Horton, Aoi Ooka and Jesper Seger.

"There's a lot of (freshmen)," Hughes said. "We have a local player, Cole Horton, a lot of potential, freshman guy. Really excited to have one of the best recruits in Missouri on the team this year. I think he could really step up this season once he gets a little bit more comfortable. I have Aoi from Japan, and I also have Jesper from Sweden. Both have a lot of potential. Super excited. I could sit here and name all of my freshmen because they all have so much potential. But I will say, Aoi and Jesper really showed up this fall. They actually played doubles very well together. They only lost in the regional tournament to Noah (Burton) and Zinovii (Nahirniak). So, they made it all the way there. Aoi lost to Noah in the singles quarterfinals. So, there's a lot of potential there. 

"I think those two, along with Cole, huge assets. I think they're really going to help strengthen the team again. Let's just see how they do. Because I think sometimes that first season can be daunting. There's a little bit added pressure of, 'Oh, now my team's relying on me.' But, they all showed up in the fall. They really showed me what they're about, and they're competitive, and I like that."

Unlike recent seasons, William Woods will compete in a conference tournament solely for one conference, with this year being the Heart of America Athletic Conference's first postseason competition for men's and women's tennis, which includes seven teams for each gender. The Owls' six conference opponents are Baker University, Grand View University, John Brown University, (RV) Missouri Baptist University, (RV) Missouri Valley College and (RV) Texas Wesleyan University. Held at Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City, the Heart Championships will run from April 17-19.

"When you look at paper and us being at the top, it definitely comes with a little bit of pressure," Hughes said. "I think with these young players who've come in, they know the expectation; the expectation is to win. The expectation is for us to win. But I think there could be a lot of movement within the conference of who's going to be where. All the other teams, they've definitely gotten better. I think us solidifying and becoming one conference at the Heart, I think it's exciting because we can build a competitive nature amongst the conference and some rivalries that are actually going to start to happen because we are a conference now. So, that's exciting. 

"But, I think these younger players, my freshmen, they don't necessarily know what to expect. All they've heard is what previous people have said. Now, they're lucky in a way because we had a lot of seniors graduate, so there's less expectation from their teammates. They're all going into it open with no expectation. But at the same time, they know what I expect, and I expect them to be competitive, and I'm hoping that it does go our way."

Before the Heart Championships, William Woods goes through the gantlet that is its regular season schedule, featuring one top 25 NAIA opponent, three matches against NAIA opponents receiving votes, an invite hosted by an NAIA team receiving votes and two opponents in the ITA NCAA Division II top 50. 

The Owls face NCAA Division II No. 22 Drury University on Feb. 22 in Springfield, compete in the (RV) Texas Wesleyan Invite from March 7-9 in Fort Worth, Texas, take on (RV) Bethel College (Kan.) on March 17 in Fulton, No. 22 McPherson College on March 21 in Fulton, (RV) Missouri Valley on March 22 in Fulton, DII No. 49 Northwest Missouri State University on April 8 in Fulton and (RV) Missouri Baptist on April 9 in Creve Couer.

"McPherson is going to be a competitive one," Hughes said. "We have a brand new team on the men's side. We've always been pretty competitive with them. They have a lot of talent this year. They're very strong on the doubles side, which could prove a challenge for us. Bethel is also going to be a challenge for us. We don't traditionally play them every season, so this is something I'm looking forward to. 

"If you look at our schedule, our schedule is actually home-game heavy, which is not normal for us. We're usually on the road a lot. So, I think that's really exciting that fans can come out and actually see what we're about this year, see different levels of matches. We're playing some Division II teams at home as well, which is really exciting and just shows where we're at across the board. But Missouri Baptist is gonna be tough. They have a very solid team. I think that's exciting. Unfortunately, that one is on the road this year. But that's the rivalry. I would say that out of the whole season, we always gear for the Missouri Baptist match for sure."

Ahead of the spring slate, the Owls host the ITA NAIA National Team Indoor Championship from Friday to Sunday at Overland Park Racquet Club in Overland Park, Kansas. No. 8/No. 8 seed William Woods plays No. 1/No. 1 seed Georgia Gwinnett College in the quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m. Friday, the winner faces the winner between No. 3/No. 4 seed Middle Georgia State University and No. 7/No. 5 seed William Carey University in the semifinals at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

"I think indoor nationals is a huge opportunity for them to play," Hughes said. "The top eight schools in the country, us being ranked eighth right now. I think that's a great way to kick off the season. It shows them what the level needs to be going into conference if we get that conference title, what the level needs to be going to the national tournament. 

"I would love nothing more than to get a win at indoors. I think that would really build our confidence. It's going to be tough. It's going to be really tough, but I think we can do it, if they go in with the energy that they have. I've got a very energetic team. It's young. But a lot of raw talent. I really think we can shape a good team."