Phil Conley

Phil Conley

Philip Conley enters his 15th year as Head Men's and Women's Tennis coach at Tiffin University in 2023-24.

Conley continued the strong tennis tradition at TU in 2022-23, posting G-MAC regular season championships in both men's and women's tennis. The men's team also won the G-MAC Championship. He earned Coach of the Year honors for both the men's and women's teams, leading both teams to NCAA regional berths. The women's team now has six regional berths, while the men have been selected two consecutive seasons. He has earned 9 total Coach of the Year honors, six with the women's program. He also coached the first Division II All-American in school history in Ruben Fonga. The men finished the season ranked 26th in Division II with a 20-3 record, while the women were 37th with an 18-7 mark.

Conley had another banner year in 2021-22, earning a share of the women's tennis regular season GMAC title while also posting the best record in the conference at 19-4. He was named ITA Midwest Region Women's Coach of the Year as well as GMAC Women's Coach of the Year. His men's team also won the GMAC regular season and tournament title with a record of 17-8. TU's women were ranked 41st in the country and 6th in the Midwest Region in the final ITA rankings. The Dragons, coming off their GMAC Tournament Championship, previously earned selection to the NCAA Midwest Regional, entering as the fourth-seed. They qualified for four consecutive years from 2014 to 2017. The men's program also qualified for NCAA Regionals, their first such accomplishment as a Division II institution. Tiffin's GMAC Championship marks the second GMAC Championship for the Dragons, who last won in 2019. In all, five women's athletes and two men's athletes landed All GMAC honors.

Conley had another strong year in 2020-21, earning his 6th Coach of the Year honor, 4th with the women's program. He was previously named 2019 Men's GMAC Coach of the Year, 2017 Men's and Women's GLIAC Coach of the Year as well as Wilson/ITA Women's Coach of the Year, and 2013 Women's GLIAC Coach of the Year. The men's team was ranked 7th in the Midwest Region and reached the GMAC Tournament Championship, while the women were 8th regionally and won the GMAC regular-season title. 

Conley has led the Dragons to five NCAA Regional appearances during his career (2022, 2013-17). Overall as a women's coach, he has a 178-125 record (.587), 72-52 in conference play. As a men's coach, he has a 161-151 record (.516), 53-46 in conference play. He has the most wins of any tennis coach in TU history, winning a combined 339 games as both men's and women's coach (339-276 overall, .551 percentage).

Before the 2019-20 season was cut short due to COVID-19, Conley had both the men's and women's programs poised for another great GMAC run, including the women sporting a 9-4 mark. The Dragons earned three GMAC Athlete of the Week honors apiece on the men's and women's sides. In the final ITA Midwest Region rankings, Abbie-Jade Riley was ranked 20th in singles and Juliette Sirgant & Lauren Prince were ranked seventh in doubles on the women's side and the doubles duo of Nikita Parfenov and Michael Gurtner were ranked ninth on the men's side. The men were also ranked atop the GMAC Preseason Poll, while the women were ranked second.

In 2018-19, Conley enjoyed success on both the men's and women's side in Tiffin's first season as a part of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The men cruised through conference play undefeated at 6-0 (15-7 overall) before earning a pair of 4-2 victories in the GMAC Championships to claim the program's first conference title since joining Division II. On the women's side, TU finished 10-8 overall and 5-2 in the GMAC, good enough for the three-seed in tournament action. Across both programs, Conley had 10 student-athletes named All-GMAC (five first team, five second team), while earning the GMAC Men's Coach of the Year honor.

During the 2016-17 season, Coach Conley was named Men's and Women's GLIAC Coach of the Year. The men finished 16-7 overall and finished 3rd in the GLIAC. The women's team posted a 19-4 overall record and took 2nd in the GLIAC. Conley was also named Wilson/ITA Coach of the Year as the women's team were selected to the NCAA Midwest Regional for the fourth straight year. 

In 2013, Conley was named GLIAC Women's Tennis Coach of the Year after leading the Dragons to their first-ever NCAA Regional appearance and their best conference finish in school history (3rd place). The Lady Dragons have been nationally ranked as high as #34 in the nation in 2021-22. The Dragons have been ranked as high as #5 in the Midwest Regional Polls. In the classroom the Dragons have excelled under Conley, compiling 21 All-Academic Excellence (3.5-4.0) and 16 All-Academic (3.0-3.49) recipients.

On the Men’s side, Conley has led the Dragons team to a national ranking of 36th and a top regional ranking of 4th in 2013-2014. In 2013-2014, the Dragons finished second in the GLIAC, the highest GLIAC finish in program history. The Dragons consistently finished in the top 4 in the GLIAC and finished the 2015-2016 season ranked 9th in the region. Conley has coached two All GLIAC 1st team selections, 5 All GLIAC 2nd teamers, and seven Honorable Mention recipients. In addition, the Dragons have had three GLIAC Players of the Week.

Conley is a graduate of Tiffin University, holding a Master’s in Education, a Master’s in Business, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business. In addition, he holds a Professional PTR license and a Level 1 USTA Sport Science certification.  During his collegiate career at Tiffin University, Conley played #1 singles and was an All-American Mideast Conference recipient three years in a row for singles and a 2007 semi-finalist at the Midwest ITA Regional at the NAIA level. In that same season, Conley's junior year, the team finished # 26 in the nation in NAIA and finished second in the conference and regional finalists.