Last year, the Penn State Altoona men's tennis team posted one of its best seasons in recent history. The Lions accumulated six overall wins, including going 4-1 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference. The team earned a share of the conference's regular season championship, claimed the number one seed in the postseason tournament, and ultimately finished as AMCC runners-up after a loss in the championship match.

Six different men's tennis players were voted to the All-AMCC team last season, and head coach Megan Stern was selected as the conference's Coach of the Year. This year will mark a different set of circumstances for the Lions, however, as the roster returns just three players from last season while welcoming five newcomers.

Penn State Altoona will feature three key returning sophomores this year: Casey Hess (Annville, PA/Annville-Cleona), Ethan Schneider (Broad Top, PA/Tussey Mountain), and Joey Toth (South Park, PA/South Park).

Hess had a sensational 2021-22 campaign for the Lions, which culminated in being voted the AMCC Newcomer of the Year and being a first-team all-conference pick in No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles. Hess set a new Penn State Altoona men's tennis single-season record for overall singles wins, going 12-1 overall and 5-0 in the AMCC. He also finished the schedule with an 8-7 overall mark in doubles matches, including going 4-1 in AMCC doubles.

Toth was a second-team All-AMCC selection in No. 1 doubles, where he posted a 4-1 record against AMCC opponents, and he also recorded four overall singles wins. Schneider returns after being a midseason addition to the roster last season, competing in one singles match and four doubles matches.

"Our sophomore returners will provide the leadership and consistency in both singles and doubles to set us up for success this season," said Stern, who is entering her fifth year as the head coach of the Penn State Altoona men's program. "I look forward to seeing their continued success this year, including Joey and Casey pairing up at number one doubles together."

The Lions' eight-player roster also includes five first-year players: sophomores Javier Pozo (Peru/The Southern Cross School), Parth Raval (Mumbai, India/Thakur Polytechnic), and Nihal Wadkar (Pittsburgh, PA/Loyola) and freshmen Nick Beard (Manns Choice, PA/Bedford) and Emmett Hibbs (Richfield, PA/East Juniata).

"I'm excited for Nick to round off our top half of the lineup at number three singles. He will make a solid number three and will be very competitive in the AMCC," said Stern. "We also have quite a few other newcomers who will provide us with depth at the bottom half of our lineup in Javier, Parth, Emmett, and Nihal."

The Penn State Altoona men's tennis team's 2022-23 schedule consists of part of the fall semester, takes a three-month hiatus during winter, and then resumes for the main part of its season in the spring. Stern's hope is that the team can find the same success that it had last year, albeit with a different lineup.

"As always, our goal is to grow as a team and to compete at a high level in our conference," Stern stated. "We're hoping to make it back to the AMCC finals again this year."