ST. LOUIS – University of Missouri-St. Louis head men's and women's tennis coach Rick Gyllenborg has announced his retirement following the 2020-21 season, Director of Athletics Lori Flanagan announced Friday.
 
Gyllenborg is in his 26^th season as the men's tennis coach and his 20^th as the women's tennis head coach.
 
"We are grateful for Rick's 26 years as not only a tennis coach, but as a teacher and mentor to UMSL's student-athletes," said Flanagan. "His success on the court speaks for itself, but off the court, his student-athletes' success in the classroom and in the community are just as impressive. Rick's dedication to his programs and his student-athletes has, and will continue to, leave a lasting impact."
 
Gyllenborg owns a cumulative 398-344 record. On the men's side he is 247-203 and is 151-141 on the women's side. He has taken the men's program to eight NCAA Tournaments and the women three, including the 2017-18 team, which advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals.
 
"It's been a tremendous 26 years," said Gyllenborg. "I feel it's the right time for the student-athletes and the UMSL Athletics Department to find a new coach who will bring innovative ideas to take these programs to the next level."
 
Gyllenborg came to UMSL in 1995 as the head men's tennis coach. From 2001-04, he served as co-head coach of the women's tennis with his wife, Paula, and has been at the helm of that program since 2005.
He also spent 13 years (1997-2010) as an Assistant Athletics Director.
 
"I owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to Rich Meckfessel for hiring me, Pat Dolan who brought me up through the ranks of the department as an assistant AD and adjunct faculty along with coaching, and Lori Flanagan who has supported me and the tennis program the past 12 years," Gyllenborg said.
 
On the men's side, Gyllenborg has led UMSL to the GLVC Tournament in each of the last 23 years it was held, with its runner-up finish in 2002 being the program's highest finish. That also marked the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament bid with subsequent appearances coming in 2003, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.
 
His men's players have earned 35 All-GLVC honors, including the 2009 GLVC Player of the Year in Andi Dimke. Dimke was also one of four players to be named GLVC Freshman of the Year (Matt Vaulkhard, 2001; Mike Schaaf, 2003; Dimke, 2007; Ben-Hur Kasprzak, 2017).
 
On the women's side, Gyllenborg has directed the program to a winning season in each of the last nine years with NCAA Tournament appearances in 2014, 2017 and 2018. His 2016-17 team earned a share of it's first-ever GLVC West Division regular season title, while the 2017-18 team wrapped up a historic season with a loss in the national quarterfinals as the Tritons advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history.
 
Under his tutelage, players have earned 19 All-GLVC honors, including the 2001 GLVC Freshman of the Year in Casie Skaggs.
 
UMSL will begin a national search to identify a successor for Gyllenborg.