Jerry Hendrick
Head Coach

Head Coach Jerry Hendrick begins his 19th season as the men's tennis coach at Aquinas College. Coach Hendrick is a 1986 graduate of Spring Arbor University, where he was a four-year letter winner. While at Spring Arbor, Hendrick served as captain, and played first singles and doubles. Coach Hendrick received a master's degree in social work from Grand Valley State University in 1990, and has worked in the social work field ever since that time.

During his tenure at Aquinas, Coach Hendrick has been named the Wolverine-Hoosier Conference coach of the year numerous times. His teams have won nine NAIA Great Lakes Regional titles, and have qualified for the NAIA National Championship tournament eleven times. Coach Hendrick has compiled 316 (wins) and 108 (losses) dual match record against top-level competition over the course of the past eighteen seasons.

Coach Hendrick has also served as the President of the NAIA Tennis Coaches Association (three terms), and has been the Chairperson of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Ranking Committee (four terms). Prior to arriving at Aquinas, Hendrick coached at Jackson Lumen Christi High School for two seasons, where he led both teams to the high school state championship tournament. Numerous players have compiled 100-win careers during his tenure at Aquinas, including Doug Dooley, Eric Vangessel, Scott David, Steve Greene, David Acevedo, Justin Crain, Kurt Brummel, Tom Huizing, Jason Winegar, Nate Price, Jason Walsh, Matt Garner, Jared Flick, Mike Rose, Patrick Grashorn, Patrick Bruining, Jason Beydoun, Jordan O’Neill and Tuan-Anh Tran. Coach Hendrick resides in Grand Rapids with his wife, Beth, of 22 years and their three children: Ashley (19), Aaron (17) and Austin (13).

Steve Rose

Assistant Coach

Steve Rose begins his second year on staff as Assistant Tennis Coach. He has extensive experience in coaching a variety of sports including coaching tennis at the Jr. Varsity and Varsity level for Forest Hills Central High School in Grand Rapids Michigan. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the West Michigan Tennis Association and has been a USTA Travel Team player for over 15 years. Steve considers it a privilege to be a part of the Aquinas tradition of tennis excellence at the small college level and is looking forward to contributing to the team’s continued success.

He received his undergraduate degree in accounting from Central Michigan University and his MBA from the University of Michigan. Steve is also a Certified Public Accountant and is Chief Financial Officer for First Telecommunications LLC.

Steve is married to Patricia and they are proud to have a son, Michael who is a recent Aquinas graduate, and his son Mike was an All-American and National Senior Player of the Year while competing for the Saints.

The Saints lost the service of their best player (Jordan O’Nell) to graduation from last year's squad that finished runner-up Region Eight and ranked #23 in the nation. O’Neill had played a very important role on the team playing first singles and doubles, and over the course of his career accumulated more than 100 total wins (singles and doubles). Despite O’Neill’s loss, the Saints are excited about the coming year, and are setting their hopes high as they look toward the future.

This year’s team returns seniors Tuan-Anh Tran (Caledonia, Mi/East Kentwood High School), Nick Ludwig (Farmington Hills, Mi/North Farmington) and Dan Doerrfeld (Algonquin, Il/Algonquin High School). Tran is expected to move up another spot in the line-up to first singles and continue the improvement that was begun over the course of his first three seasons as a Saint. Tran’s speed on the court and determination to win remain his greatest assets, and expectations are high regarding his senior year. Ludwig will be building on a very successful junior year where he established himself as the team’s most reliable and consistent performer. This occurred despite the fact that he missed all of his sophomore season rehabilitating an injury to his playing hand. Doerrfeld is coming off a successful season where he played primarily six singles and third doubles. This year he will be expected to provide strong play in both singles and doubles near the bottom of the line-up, as well as leadership for his younger teammates.

The junior on this year's team is John Telfer (Midland, MI/Midland High School). John played mostly third singles and second doubles last season, and made considerable progress as he worked at becoming stronger in all aspects of the game. He will be looked to again this year for mid-line-up play, and is expected to continue in his development.

Three sophomores will compete for the Saints squad this year and all three will be expected to contribute over the course of the season. Travis Wolf (Portage Mi/Portage Central High School) played mostly fifth singles and second doubles as a freshman last season. Wolf plays primarily from the baseline, and will be challenging for a higher position in the line-up this year. Michael Sendor (St. Josephs Mi/St. Josephs High School) played regularly at third doubles as a freshman, and is expected to continue his development as a singles and doubles player this year. Victor Roland (Brazil/Kentwood High School) was the team’s first alternate in singles last season and will be challenging for a place in the regular line-up this year.

Three freshmen have joined the squad this year and all three are expected to challenge immediately for playing time in the line-up. Aaron Mayes (Elk Rapids Mi/Elk Rapids High School) was a two-time all state and four year #1 singles player for his high school. Mayes has also been ranked in the top 40 in the Midwest (USTA) and competes with an aggressive baseline style of play. Mayes is expected to play in both the singles and probably doubles line-up right away. Kyle Masteller (Holland Mi/West Ottawa High School) is another new player who comes to Aquinas after a successful high school career. Masteller was one of the top players in the tough West Michigan USTA District, earning a spot on the coveted Junior Davis Cup team where he competed with other top players in the Midwest. Masteller plays with an attacking style and is as comfortable at net as he is on the baseline. He will be competing as a freshman for both a singles and doubles spot in the line-up. Andrew Jary (Grandville Mi/Grandville High School) is yet another “home grown” player who coach Hendrick is excited to have on the team. Jary stands six feet four inches tall, and has a very strong serve with good hands to go with it. Jary was the top player for his high school team four years and was voted all-conference each season. Coach Hendrick will be looking at Jary for continued development and is expecting that he will contribute in his first year as a Saint.

Overall, expectations at Aquinas are very high for another successful season of tennis. This year’s team will once again attempt to defeat all in-state rivals, achieve a top 15 ranking, qualify for the National Championship tournament, and win at least one round at the National Championship event to be played in Mobile Alabama in May. Given the combination of talented youth and experienced veterans, the Saints are looking forward to a successful 2010.