Bill Lehman
Head Coach
(830) 372-8128
Bill Lehman returned to coaching at Texas Lutheran as the university’s head coach for men and women’s tennis in the 2002 season, and he moved quickly to get the Bulldog men and women’s tennis teams into the upper echelon of the American Southwest Conference.
After the 2008 season, Texas Lutheran seniors Alanna Gangemi and Emily Frey, junior Dante Cage and sophomore Jonathan Hartwell each picked up American Southwest Conference tennis awards. In the women’s tennis awards, Gangemi was named to the ASC West Division Second Team, and Frey earned a spot on the ASC West Honorable Mention Team. Gangemi was 4-1 in ASC West Division play at the No. 1 singles position. She teamed with Frey to win two No. 1 doubles matches in the division. Frey was 2- in division singles play at the No. 2 spot. Both Gangemi and Frey were four-year letter winners for the Bulldogs.
Cage and Hartwell were each named to the ASC West Second Team. Cage lost just one time in division play in producing a 6-1 conference mark at No. 1 singles. He was 8-4 overall in singles play throughout the spring season. Cage was a combined 5-2 in conference doubles play at the No. 1 spot. Cage played with Nick Schenk and Will Krone in the conference season. Cage and Schenk were 4-1 as a doubles team. Hartwell was also 6-1 in ASC West Division play. Hartwell played at No. 3 and No. 4 singles positions throughout the year. He was 4-0 at the No. 3 spot. Hartwell played doubles with Michael Campbell in the ASC West season. The team produced a 5-2 division mark and a 6-5 record overall.
The TLU men finished 2008 with a 4-8 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the ASC West Division. The Bulldogs finished in a three-way tie for third place in the ASC West. TLU was on the short end of the tiebreaker formula to determine the third seed from the ASC West for the conference tournament. The TLU women produced a 2-8 overall record in 2008. The Bulldogs were 2-5 in the ASC West and finished in a tie for fifth in the eight-team division.
For the 2007 season, Lehman took the men’s tennis team to the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament, where the Bulldogs upset ASC East No. 2 seed LeTourneau. TLU players Alanna Gangemi, Kasey Weikel and Dante Cage each picked up ASC West Division awards. Cage also was named to the ASC Championship All-Tournament Team. He also made the All-Tournament Team in 2005.
In 2006, Lehman guided the TLU women’s tennis team back to the ASC Championship Tournament. After finishing as the conference runner-up in 2005, the Bulldogs advanced to the conference tournament semifinal in 2006. Angela Bryant repeated her ASC All-Conference and ASC West Division First Team selections, and Bryant was joined on the ASC All-West First Team by April Seydler. Alanna Gangemi garnered a Second Team All-West Division selection.
The 2006 men went 3-4 in the ASC West and just missed advancing to the ASC Championship Tournament. Bulldog No. 1 singles player Rodney Munoz garnered an ASC West Honorable Mention selection.
In 2005, Lehman was named the American Southwest Conference West Division Women’s Coach of the Year for leading the Bulldogs to a runner-up West Division finish and a runner-up finish at the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament. Both finishes were the best finishes ever for Texas Lutheran squads in American Southwest Conference action.
Lehman also coached Angela Bryant to ASC West Division Player of the Year and ASC All-Conference honors and guided Dante Cage, Jenny Growcock and Rodney Munoz to ASC All-Conference awards.
Lehman’s 2005 men’s squad qualified for its first-ever American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament after finishing third in the ASC West Division. The Bulldogs upset No. 2 East Division seed Mississippi College in the opening round of the tournament before falling in the semifinals to eventual ASC Championship Tournament Champion Hardin-Simmons.
In the 2004 season, Lehman placed three players – Rodney Munoz, Angela Bryant and April Seydler – on the ASC All-West Division squads. The men placed third in the ASC West. The Bulldog women’s tennis team finished fourth in the ASC West.
In the 2003 season, Lehman guided the Texas Lutheran women’s team to their best season since 1998. The Bulldogs were 5-3 overall and 5-2 in the American Southwest Conference, finishing third overall in the division and just missing the ASC Championship Tournament. Lehman had two players receive conference honors. Jenny Growcock was named to the ASC All-Conference Team, and Angela Bryant was named the ASC West Freshman of the Year.
Lehman, a 1960 graduate of Texas Lutheran, served as the offensive coordinator for the Bulldog football team from 1998 until 2000, when he retired from his football coaching duties.
Lehman currently serves as the athletics staff sponsor for the university’s chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was named the 2000 Greater San Antonio South Texas Area FCA Sponsor of the Year.
“I like to quote Mark 9:23, ‘If you can, all things to him that believes,’” said Lehman. “I enjoy working with kids so I’ve enjoyed working with the tennis team. We not only want to make them better tennis players, but we want to grow as a family - as better players, teammates and coaches.”
Lehman lettered three years (1958-60) in tennis and in football (1957-59) for Texas Lutheran. He played offensive guard for the Bulldogs and twice earned First Team All-Texas from The Dallas Morning News. During his senior year at Texas Lutheran, he was named a Lutheran College All-American.
His professional football career included playing time in the Canadian Football League with the Saskatchewan Rough Riders and eight years (six as a player/assistant coach) with the San Antonio Toros of the Continental Football League.
Following his playing career, he wrestled professionally for 13 years under the names Sigfried Stanke and Spoiler No. 2 and against the likes of Andre The Giant and Fritz von Ehrich.
The end of his professional wrestling days sparked the beginning of his football-coaching career. In his more than 20 years in the high school ranks, Lehman served as an assistant coach at San Antonio East Central, Laredo Martin, San Antonio Southwest, Donna, Mission and McAllen. He was the head offensive assistant under Sonny Detmer at San Antonio Southwest and Mission, when those schools had the services of future Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback Ty Detmer and future NFL quarterback Koy Detmer.
Lehman, a New Braunfels native and former football standout at New Braunfels High, lives in Seguin with his wife Sherry. They have an adult son, Troy, who lives in Austin.
Preston Reeves
Assistant Coach
Dr. Preston Reeves just can’t get away from Texas Lutheran University. After teaching chemistry at Texas Lutheran from 1965 to 2003, Reeves returned to tennis coaching as an assistant to Bill Lehman starting with the 2004-05 athletics season. Reeves served as head coach of the Bulldogs from 1969 to 1973. For the 2008-09 season, Reeves was named the TLU Athletics Program's Honorary Coach.
Reeves retired in 2003 as the head of the Texas Lutheran chemistry department. He held the Adolph Krause Professorship in natural sciences. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from Texas Christian University. He received his doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin.
