NORFOLK, Va. — "Last year, the big goal was to win the conference."
The 2023 ODU men's tennis team was laden with seniors. Seniors who had yet to win a Sun Belt conference championship. Head coach Dominik Mueller says they set out to accomplish that goal.
The Monarchs did just that, raising the Sun Belt trophy and sending off a memorable senior class as champions.
The 2024 Monarchs are drastically different. They are defined by youth. Only two players from the championship match last year returned. This version features two sophomores and two freshman among their best players, including Freshman of the Year Connor van Schalkwyk. Rather than winning with experience, they won with the freedom that often accompanies youth.
"The whole year I've called it young fun energy," says Mueller. "Sometimes they're a little naïve, and I mean that in a good way. Sometimes they don't know what they don't know, but that makes it so much fun. They just go for it, they don't overthink."
The youth movement has led to similar results, however, with the Monarchs repeating that Sun Belt Championship for the first time in program history.
"They wrote some history. I think winning back to back a target is on your back the whole year. I think you could make the argument it's harder than winning the first one," says Mueller.
It's not just their personnel that has changed. The team's ultimate goals have as well.
"I think we're due to win a round in the NCAA tournament. Last year the big goal was to win the conference. They hadn't done that in their career. I think when they finally won the conference, I wouldn't say they were done but the NCAA was sort of a cherry on top."
Mueller describes this team as "hungry". They're craving a win at the highest level, eager to see how far the ODU tennis youth movement can go.
"The whole year we talked about winning a round in the NCAA tournament."