CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi men's and women's tennis teams are officially back in action and ready than ever to take on another historic year of success for 2026 as the competitive season begins Monday and Tuesday against Alcorn State.
The Islanders Tennis program has seen 16 consecutive championship seasons and will be looking to make it 17 in 2026 which begins Jan. 25 and 26 against Alcorn State. In total, the Islanders have amassed an astounding 37 championships in the program's history.
The men will open Monday in a doubleheader matchup against Alcorn State while the women follow suit on Tuesday also in two matches. All matches against Alcorn State will be neutrally played in Houston.
Both squads will start the season with a few matches away from home, including the men making a stop in Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns on Feb. 7. The Longhorns have been in the NCAA Final Four each of the last three years including the national runners-up in 2024.
The home opener is set for Feb. 11 against UTRGV in the first part of the South Texas Showdown, presented by Rally Credit Union. The doubleheader will feature the men going at 10 a.m. before the women go at 1 p.m. against the Vaqueros.
The 62
nd Annual H-E-B Tournament of Champions will be held Feb. 20-21, with the men's tennis team welcoming UT-Arlington, New Mexico State, and Louisiana to town for the weekend.
The H-E-B tournament of Champions is the oldest college tournament in America, started by H-E-B founder Howard E. Butt in 1964. It existed before the NCAA championships was a team tournament. Islanders Tennis purchased the rights to run the tournament in 2006, making this the 20
th year the H-E-B Tournament of Champions has been under the direction of the program.
The Southland Conference slate begins at the end of February for the women, welcoming SFA on Feb. 28 for the league opener at home. The men will get started March 21 at UTRGV and the slate will span to the final weekend April 4 and 6 against Nicholls and New Orleans before the teams head into the conference tournament April 19-21 in Beaumont, Texas.
Both the men's and women's tennis teams won the Southland Conference regular season championship last season, further cementing themselves as the winningest tennis teams in conference history and two of the winningest programs across all sports in the 63-year history of conference.
For the men, the Islanders secured their 13
th all-time regular season title for now 23 total championships. They are one of the winningest teams in the Southland Conference, across all sports. The women won their third consecutive regular season title and seventh overall this year. It took their championship total to 14 combined with their seven conference tournament titles.
The teams have been to the prestigious NCAA Championships, the ultimate metric of success, a record-breaking 17 times. Both teams also hold conference tennis records in regular season titles, conference tournament titles, and NCAA tournament appearances.
Head coach
Steve Moore has been the guiding force for 35 of the championships, including 16 trips to the NCAA Tournament. That is the most NCAA appearances at the same school by a head coach all-time in Southland Conference history, across all sports and all coaches.
A&M-Corpus Christi Tennis
- 17 NCAA Tournaments
- 37 SLC Championships
- 4 Top-40 National Rankings
- 3.0 GPA 43 Straight Semesters
- Islanders have received a No. 3 seed at the NCAA Tournament three times
- Women's tennis has cracked the ITA top-75 national rankings three times
- Men's tennis has cracked the ITA national rankings 10 consecutive years
- Ranked nationally in NCAA DI as high as No. 35 for the men and No. 60 for the women
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