Former Roadrunners All-American Josh Graetz, widely considered the best men's player in program history, took over as head coach of the MSU Denver men's and women's tennis programs in the fall of 2018 and immediately delivered, leading the women's team to a third straight Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season title in 2019.
The trend continued after the program became affiliate members of the Pacific West Conference, and Graetz took his teams to even greater heights in 2022-23. The Roadrunners' men reached a program-best No. 25 in the national rankings on March 22, and both teams were ranked No. 36 on March 8. That was the Roadrunners women's team's highest ranking since being No. 28 two years earlier. It is believed to be the first time that both programs have been in the national rankings at the same time since the final rankings of the 2001-02 season. The men finished 15-5 overall after dubiously receiving only the No. 6 seed to the PacWest Tournament, while the women finished 14-10 after receiving the No. 9 seed to the PacWest Tournament and winning its first-round matchup. The men were ranked No. 40 in the final poll of the season, with Jeanloup Auzias ranked No. 54 in singles. The women had the doubles team of Isabel Heras and Kinsey Fields finish No. 38 in the final rankings. Auzias was All-PacWest first team in singles, newcomer Juho Kantola was All-PacWest third team in singles and second team in doubles with partner David Kijak, and Carlos Pinedo was All-PacWest third team in singles. Both teams also earned the ITA West Region Community Service Award.
In 2021-22, the Roadrunners' men's team was the top-ranked team that didn't make the field for the NCAA Division II West Regional after going 14-5 overall. MSU Denver was seeded seventh for the PacWest Tournament, despite being fourth in the West Region rankings (the PacWest and West Region are both up of the exact same teams) and finished seventh at the tournament, despite pushing 43rd-ranked Biola (Calif.) in a 4-3 consolation bracket defeat. Auzias developed from the team's No. 6 singles player as a freshman to No. 1 as a sophomore, and he finished the season ranked 47th in Division II in singles. Auzias earned All-PacWest second team in singles, while Carlos Pinedo was All-PacWest third team in singles. Meanwhile, brothers Billy and Jack McDermott earned All-PacWest third team in doubles. The Roadrunners were ranked 64th in the final ITA poll of the season. The MSU Denver women were hit with multiple late-season injuries that derailed their postseason hopes, yet still finished a solid 12-10. True freshman Ava Neuburger-Higby earned All-PacWest second team in doubles, and she and partner Heras were named All-PacWest third team in doubles.
After a year as an independent program, Graetz guided MSU Denver into the rugged PacWest as an affiliate member in 2020-21, and the Roadrunners made an immediate impression, particularly on the women's side. The MSU Denver women finished fifth at the PacWest Tournament, narrowly missing a bid to the NCAA West Regional Tournament, after entering play as the No. 9 seed. As a team, the women finished with the program's highest national ranking ever, at No. 28, while Brooklyn Ross was ranked 49th in singles and teamed with Heras to be ranked 15th nationally in doubles. Ross was the PacWest Freshman of the Year and All-PacWest second team, Ross/Heras were All-PacWest second team, and Helena Steenberg was All-PacWest third team in singles. Steenberg was named the ITA West Region's Most Improved Senior Player.
The men finished seventh at the PacWest Tournament, capping a season in which Daniel Llorente was All-PacWest second team in singles, and made the All-PacWest third team in doubles with partner Mateo Besada. Additionally, Jack McDermott was All-PacWest third team in singles.
The program's good works weren't limited to the court, as both programs earned the ITA's West Region Community Service Award, and Llorente was the West Region's Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award recipient.
After the smashing first-season debut with Graetz at the helm, the success continued during the 2019-20 season, though the season ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic before the Roadrunners had a chance to qualify for the NCAA Division II Tournament as independent programs.
During the 2019-20 season, the MSU Denver women went 6-4 in dual play and received votes in the final NCAA Division II poll, while the men were 3-4.
Ross was named the ITA's South Central Region women's rookie of the year, while Besada was named the region's most improved senior men's player. The MSU Denver men's program also earned the region's Community Service Award.
In the season's final men's regional rankings, Llorente was No. 9, Besada was No. 13 and Alejandro Martinez-Morilla was No. 15. In the final women's regional rankings, Ross was No. 6 and Tabitha Porter was No. 9.
In 2018-19, the women compiled a 13-10 overall record and won all three of their RMAC regular-season duals before falling in the RMAC Tournament finals to Dixie State. Porter earned RMAC Player of the Year and Academic All-RMAC, and Steenberg was the RMAC Co-Freshman of the year. Porter, Steenberg and Alex Pessoa earned All-RMAC first team honors in singles, while the doubles pairings of Pessoa/Steenberg and Porter/Mackenzie Hotan each earned All-RMAC first team recognition.
Meanwhile, the MSU Denver men went 9-8, and Joey Tscherne was named the ITA’s South Central Region Senior Player of the Year award. The MSU Denver men were independent in tennis.
Both teams narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA Tournament.
A native of Albury, Australia, Graetz enjoyed a decorated career with the Metropolitan State University of Denver tennis program from 2013 through 2018.
Over the course of his playing career at MSU Denver, Graetz became the program's all-time leader in singles wins (89), No. 1 singles wins (68), doubles wins (82) and No. 1 doubles wins (70).
He compiled an 89-29 singles record, going 68-20 in No. 1 singles. He had an 82-35 mark in doubles play, including 70-25 at No. 1. He was undefeated in RMAC competition during his final two years as a Roadrunner, earning a whopping eight RMAC Player of the Week awards throughout his career. He is the Roadrunners' all-time leader in singles wins and doubles wins, and was named the program's top singles player ever in 2020.
Graetz was named the 2014 RMAC Freshman of the Year after a brilliant 2013-14 season in which he recorded a school-record 24 singles wins. He followed his incredible freshman season by surpassing 20 wins in both singles and doubles competition in 2014-15, earning All-RMAC first team honors for singles and All-RMAC second team honors for doubles.
After an injury-shortened 2015-16 season, Graetz came back in 2016-17 and earned RMAC Player of the Year honors after going 22-6 in singles and 23-4 in doubles. He was also named RMAC Academic Player of the Year while earning the 2017 ITA Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award and leading MSU Denver to RMAC regular season and tournament titles.
Graetz repeated as RMAC Player of the Year and Academic Player of the Year in 2017-18, going 19-6 in singles competition and 18-9 in doubles play. He earned ITA All-America honors while leading the Roadrunners to their second straight RMAC regular season and tournament championships as well as an NCAA Tournament appearance.
He also received the prestigious RMAC Man of the Year award from the league office, an award that honors graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their college career in areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, community service and leadership. MSU Denver also honored Graetz as the Male Senior Athlete of the Year for 2017-18.
Graetz graduated from MSU Denver in the spring of 2018 with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and sport management as well as a minor in international business. Graduating with a 3.8 cumulative grade point average, Graetz was named to the Academic All-RMAC first team three times. An excellent representative of MSU Denver in the community, Graetz has been a dedicated volunteer at multiple organizations in the greater Denver area and spent time weekly helping new students acclimate to campus with MSU Denver New Student Orientation.
