St. Mary’s High School senior Andrew Kautz has verbally committed to play tennis for Allegheny College, a private, non-profit, four-year liberal arts institution in Meadville, Pennsylvania.
Allegheny’s head tennis coach Dave Hayden started recruiting Kautz before a University Sports Program (USP) Showcase in Naples, Florida in November. The USP is one of the most prestigious college placement agencies across the country. Since 1994, USP has helped over 1,800 student-athletes succeed in their lives through the college tennis path. The USP priority is to match each student with the right college beyond tennis where they will have a lifelong and rewarding career.
Coach Hayden, after seeing Kautz compete at the USP Showcase, offered him a place on the Allegheny tennis team, impressed by his serve and discipline on the court.
Kautz visited Allegheny College on February 2-4 and was thrilled by the coach, the facilities, and the tennis team.
“I had an amazing experience,” said Kautz. “It is a great school; the facilities are tremendous, and the program is full of international and American players. Allegheny is certainly a school I have been interested in since Coach Dave Hyden began recruiting me at the USP Showcase in November.
It was a great feeling.”
Allegheny facilities and support services include a designated weight room for athletes, two strength and conditioning coaches, and four trainers. The coaches have individualized workout plans and keep track of the players progress on iPads in the gym. There are four indoor courts and 12 outdoor courts.
The program has a special building next to the outdoor tennis complex for players to review their matches on computers, find out about nutrition, and serve as a gathering place for the team. The program has swing vision that videos each match and gives each player specific information on the ball
placements and match statistics.
Last year Allegheny won the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and the tennis team played in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The college offered Kautz the highest merit scholarship, a total of $168,000. Founded in 1815 Allegheny is the oldest college in continuous existence west of the Allegheny Mountains and is located less than an hour south of Lake Erie, about 90 miles north of Pittsburgh. It has about 2,000 undergraduate students.
Kautz is one of the top junior tennis players in Northwest Louisiana, and he is the defending singles tennis champion at the Regional Tennis Tournament. In addition, he was a quarterfinalist at the State Division IV Tennis Tournament. He led the St. Mary’s Tigers and clinched the Boys Regional Tennis Title.
Kautz will be among the favorites to return to the state tournament this spring. He played in several out-of-town tournaments this past summer to prepare for his final year of high school tennis and to get ready for college tennis competition.
