Young Tiger tennis team hoping to carry on the tradition of success

Coming off a fifth-place finish at last year's national championships, the Tigers return only two members from last season's team. Sophomores Guilherme Coelho and Dan Hosono will help the team with the experience they gained from the previous season. Hosono was the 2025 regional champion at No. 4 singles and advanced to the semifinals of the national championships at No. 4 singles, while Coelho is expected to make a jump after playing as a freshman.

Vaughn Smith was a redshirt member of the Tiger tennis team during the 2024-25 season. He will use his experience to contribute to the team in year two with the program.

The Tigers also added Gustavo Tedesco dos Santos, a talented transfer from Mississippi College, who placed sixth at the Junior Davis Cup and was among the top junior players in the world rankings while in Brazil.

"We had a great fall season and are excited to see what we can accomplish this season," Cowley head coach Marcel Miasato said.

Freshmen Ko Fujiwara and Haruki Okude from Japan should make immediate impacts on the squad. Fujiwara competed at the All Japan National Junior High School Tennis Championships and won five ITF Junior Doubles titles. Okude was a member of the National Selected Team Winner (Japan) and Inter High School Team Runner-up while competing in Japan.

Wojciech Biela, from Poland, is a talented doubles player who won several national doubles tournaments. Roger Valdes from Spain will look to bolster the Tigers' lineup in singles and doubles play, and Luca Laurindo had an accomplished tennis career in Brazil before coming to Cowley, capturing three ITF doubles championships and a pair of runner-up finishes.

Helping the Tigers and Miasato this season is first-year assistant coach Ane Ibarra, who was a doubles national champion for the Tiger tennis team in 2020. She went on to attend Auburn University at Montgomery (AUM) from 2021 to 2025, and helped the Warhawks capture the conference title for the first time in the program's history.

"Ane arrived at the right time to help us as an assistant; she brings a lot of knowledge and experience," Miasato said.

Cowley will open the season on Sunday, February 1, when they compete at Washburn University in Topeka, KS, at noon. The Tigers will then prepare to host Midwestern State on Saturday, February 7, at 9 a.m.

"We want to do better than we did last year," Miasato said. "I am looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish this season."