ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — A year after tearing apart the record books, Griffon Tennis is set to take their program to even greater heights with the beginning of the 2024 season on the horizon.

Now ranked No. 21 in the ITA Poll, an all-time program high, Missouri Western enters year three with Head Coach Alejandro de la Torre, igniting the 2024 portion of its season this Friday against William Jewell. With his team set for first serve at 11 a.m. inside the St. Joseph Genesis Health Club, de la Torre enters this season with a coaching record of 34-13. He brings back a team chock-full of returners, including four 2023 All-MIAA selections who spearheaded the team's first-ever trip to the NCAA Division II Sweet 16.

"Last year was history for us," de la Torre said. "Everything kind of fell in place for us. The girls turned it up like crazy here towards the end. I think it really sold them on what they were capable of."

Now dubbed the Griffitas, this talented group includes Lucia Casas Blas, the reigning MIAA Freshman of the Year and the first Griffon to win the award in program history. Casas Blas went 15-3 in singles last season, eating opponents up in the No. 4 spot with an 8-2 mark. Senior Anya Chavez earned All-MIAA Honorable Mention honors thanks to a 13-5 record, going 13-2 in the No. 2 spot. She's joined by fellow senior Isabella MacGibbon, an All-MIAA Honorable Mention who went 11-10. Rounding out the Griffons' all-conference returners is Anais Peralta Criado, who went 11-3 to earn a spot on the All-MIAA Second Team. 

To get to that Sweet 16, it took MWSU rattling off its first-ever win in the NCAA Central Regional. Western beat No. 33-ranked Central Oklahoma first in St. Joseph at Genesis Health Club, as the location was moved to the Griffs' home city last second due to storms in the area. Western then went to Maryville, Missouri, the original host location of the regional, and went toe-to-toe with No. 12 Northwest Missouri State. Once again meeting the very team that beat MWSU 4-3 just nearly a month prior, the Griffons punched their ticket to Orlando, Florida, with a 4-2 win at Frank Grube Courts.

Fast forward over eight months later, MWSU lands at the No. 2 spot in the 2024 MIAA Preseason Polls, receiving one first-place vote and falling one point shy of tying Washburn for first. With the Griffons' greatest season to date earning the team conference notoriety and sending Western into uncharted waters, de la Torre is not taking anything for granted.

"They know that it's no guarantee for them that things are going to work out the same for this year," de la Torre said. "I think we have a target on our back now because we finished pretty good, and most of the team is back."

With six returners, MWSU also brings two newcomers into the fold. Junior Greta Langiu arrives by way of Palm Beach Atlantic, a DII program in Hays County, Texas, where she went 1-5 in 2022-23. She's joined by Maria Saez, a graduate student from DI institution Longwood who went 7-11 in 2022-23 and 30-27 overall as Lancer. 

The Griffons are officially 1-0 this 2023-24 school year, defeating Truman State 7-0 on Oct. 4 in Kirksville, Missouri. Thanks to a 9-0 home record in 2022-23, MWSU has not lost in St. Joseph since May 12, 2022, a full 630 days around the sun.

2/2 - SCOUTING WILLIAM JEWELL | 11 AM
Going 2-1 this past fall, the Cardinals went 8-15 last season with a 5-7 road record. After finishing fifth out of six teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division last year, the Cardinals were picked to replicate that finish in the GLVC Preseason Poll. Since 2012, MWSU is 6-3 vs. Jewell, claiming victory in the last five matchups. Western is also 2-2 vs. Jewell when playing in St. Joseph.