
Climbing the ladder to second national tournament
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — This week, the Morningside University men’s tennis team is climbing one more rung on the ladder.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — This week, the Morningside University men's tennis team is climbing one more rung on the ladder.
The Mustangs return to the NAIA Men's National Tennis Tournament for the second straight year, following their historic debut in 2024. Morningside opens play at 1 p.m. Tuesday against Middle Georgia State in Mobile, Alabama.
"Every year, we've gone a little bit further," said head coach Alex Struck. "Thankfully, they've put in a lot of work and we've had really good people here."
Dating back to the fall, Morningside is 24-1. The Mustangs opened with 10 straight wins, including a notable victory over NCAA Division I Mercyhurst during their spring break trip in Hilton Head, S.C. Since then, they've posted a 6-0 conference record and went unbeaten at home.
"I think the preparation has been building up all this time, and it's a really good team attitude to know we're still building for success," said Mikhil Raja, who will graduate this December.
Struck, a former Mustang himself, earned All-GPAC honors in 2013 and 2015 but never got the chance to play in the national tournament as a student-athlete. That changed when he returned to lead the program in 2021 with the goal to take the Mustangs to nationals.
"We've been able to achieve those results," Struck said. "It's really exciting from a preparation standpoint—it's just working on a lot of point construction, a lot of live play, and just talking about some finer details about how to win points against really high-level competition."
Raja, one of Struck's first recruits, has seen that vision come to life through hard work and a tight-knit team culture.
"Even if there's a snow day or something like that, guys are looking to go to the indoor facility to still continue playing tennis," Raja said. "And I think it's just the hunger, the drive, everything like this — there's so many keys to success — but these guys just embody it into one word, which is like family. It's a really high standard, and I just enjoy being on the court with my teammates."