Ursinus College Men's Tennis

Smith is in his third season as head coach of the womens tennis program at Ursinus, having taken over the program in the 2014-2015 season. In his first season as womens coach, the team rewrote the record book for the program. The Bearscompiled a 14-7 record, shattering the previous record for wins in a season (10). They also earned a first-ever berth in the Centennial Conference playoffs. Finally, Ursinus notched another first a regional ranking. They finished the year rated 16th by the ITA in the Atlantic South region. In his second season at the helm, the Bears saw more success on a variety of levels. Their 11-7 record consolidated the success of season one, with the 11 wins representing the second most in a season in program history. The team spent almost the entire year in the ITA Atlantic South Region rankings, rising to an all-time high of 12th at the end of March. Finally, three of Smith's players were named to the All-Centennial Conference team. Through two years, Smith has compiled a 25-14 record while seeing four of his players earn all conference honors. During his time at Ursinus, Smith was no stranger to tennis. As the #1 singles player on the mens team, he captured the 1990 Middle Atlantic Conference Singles Championship and earned 50 wins as a singles player. His athletic talents were not limited to the tennis court, as Smith also excelled as a member of the basketball team. Smith scored 1,443 points in his Ursinus hoops career, good for seventh all time at the school. Aside from coaching, Smith also serves his alma mater as a member of the Hall of Fame committee. He was inducted into the Ursinus Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001. Smith lives in King of Prussia with his wife Kimberly, who is a 1986 graduate of Ursinus, and his daughter Olivia.

Frederika Tavani enters her first season as the head coach of the Ursinus Men's and Women's Tennis teams during the 2024-25 season.  Tavani came to Ursinus after serving as a member of the Temple Tennis coaching staff since 2009 while spending the last two seasons coaching on the Women's Tennis team.      Tavani most recently was promoted to Associate Head Women's Tennis Coach at Temple in August 2023 after serving as an assistant coach primarily for the women's team in the previous season. She was an assistant for both men's and women's teams at Temple starting in 2009. Tavani made a large impact on the Owls tennis programs, helping lead the women's team to NCAA Tournament appearances in each of the last two seasons. She made history for women's tennis program by coaching a pair of doubles team to win the ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) Super Regional Championship, which qualified for the ITA Fall National Championship.     Tavani spent two seasons as an assistant women's tennis coach at Ball State University before arriving at Temple. At Ball State, she assisted the head coach with on and off court duties, as well as working with the team. She also guided individual players through one-on-one sessions.     A four-year letterwinner in tennis at Western Michigan, Tavani was tabbed the 2003 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, which was the first time a WMU player had received the award since its inauguration in 1998. During her career she also was named the 2001 MAC Newcomer of the Year and helped the Broncos to win the MAC championship. Tavani was ranked nationally and regionally over her tenure with the Broncos, with her highest ranking being 62nd.     Tavani was the 2003 singles champion at the ITA National Summer Championships and was runner-up in doubles play. She competed in the Riviera All-American Championship in Pacific Palisades, Calif., also in 2003.     Prior to coming to the United States, Tavani was the top Indonesian junior player with the International Tennis Federation (ITF), ranked 138, where she also competed at the Australian Open Junior. She then continued her success by achieving her highest national ranking (#4) in Indonesia and competed internationally at the ITF Women's Circuits.     In December 2008, she competed at the USTA National Championships at Flushing, N.Y., and captured the USTA gold ball at the Women's Doubles event.     A native of Jakarta, Indonesia, Tavani earned a bachelor's degree in recreation from Western Michigan in 2005 and a master's degree in sports management from Ball State in 2008.