Missouri State

DAVE SPERRY
Tennis, 1976-79
Inducted February 25, 1995

Dave Sperry was a tennis standout at Missouri State four seasons in a row from 1976 through 1979, setting MSU records for all-time match victories for a single season and a career in both singles and doubles. A native St. Louisan, Sperry was the Bears’ number two singles player as a freshman in 1976, and played at the number one level his last three seasons. Sperry posted singles records of 20-5 as both a freshman and as a sophomore, and he then set the all-time MSU one-season victory mark as a junior in 1978 with a 33-4 record. He logged a 25-7 mark to finish with a four-year singles record of 98-21. In doubles, his records were 16-6 as a freshman, 14-9 as a sophomore, 26-7 his junior year, and a singles season record 27-2 as a senior. Sperry’s four-year doubles mark was 83-24. He captured the MIAA number one flight singles titles as both a junior and senior, and teamed with Roger Buenemann for the league doubles championships at number one each of his last two years. Playing under coaches Tom Adams, Ken Hydinger and Jim Klousia, Sperry led the Bears to the MIAA team championship in 1976, 1978 and 1979, while MSU finished second in the league in 1977. The league 1978 team set an all-time MSU dual meet record of 23-3. In the 1978 NCAA Division II meet, Sperry won his first three matches before losing in the national quarterfinals, as the Bears placed eighth in the meet. In 1979, he won two matches and was eliminated in the third round, as the Bears tied for seventh in the NCAA.