The UMW men's tennis program had a strong 2020 recruiting class.   Coming off of their 17th straight CAC Championship and NCAA Championship appearance, the Eagles look to continue their success.  Although the Eagles lost one of their all-time greats to graduation, David Lunding Johansson, they return a strong core of accomplished players.  This year, they welcome two freshmen and one transfer to the 2017 squad.

Transfer Ryland Byrd hails from Jonesborough, TN.   He was ranked in the top 70 players in the USTA Southern Section and top 5 in Tennessee.   He also got as high as #265 in the nation on tennisrecruitng.net in his class during his senior year, with a strong trend upwards.   According to coach Helbling, Ryan is a strong candidate to contribute in both singles and doubles.  "Ryland has some great experience from last year and we really like his aptitude for doubles, work ethic, and versatile game" says Helbling.

Freshman Joseph Brown is from Richmond, VA.   "I love that Joseph is almost self-taught in the game of tennis, which is so unusual these days" said Helbling.  "He is extremely enthusiastic and works really hard.  If he cleans up a couple of small technique issues and gets a bit smarter, he can be great for us".   Joseph was a 5A State Champion in doubles and was ranked as high as #259 in the nation on tennisrecruiting, with a strong upward trend over the past couple of years.

Finally, the Eagles welcome Michael Fleming from Roanoke, VA.  He was a two time state champion and ranked as high as 277 in the nation on tennisrecruiting during his senior year.  Of Fleming, Helbling added "Michael is a lot of fun and has a lot of talent.  He hits the ball pretty big for our level and has some very strong upside.  He has a couple of things to work on, like everyone else, but we are really excited about his potential in both singles and doubles."

With a strong class to go along with last year's successful group, the Eagles have a great core for the foreseeable future.  When asked about the class overall, Helbling said "This is a really strong group.  All three guys are pretty talented and show strong potential in both singles and doubles.  We are really excited to have all of them, especially joining the great guys we currently have."