MENLO SCHOOL Since 1915
About the Team
Menlo’s tennis program is among the most successful in Central Coast Section and state history. The Knights have won 17 CCS and 14 NorCal titles, and have not lost a league match in 22 seasons. In 2018, Menlo recorded the program’s winningest single season as it went 29-0 and took the prestigious National Invitational Tournament and NorCal and CCS titles. In 2010 and 2012, the team went undefeated and won league, CCS, and NorCal titles as well as the National High School All-American Invitational. From 2009-2012, the Knights held a 110-2 record.
The Coach
Francis Sargeant (First Year)
Former Stanford and current Cal assistant coach Francis Sargeant has taken the reins as Menlo School’s Director of Tennis.
Sargeant serves as varsity head coach of the girls’ and boys’ tennis teams, and will oversee the entire Middle School and Upper School programs.
Sargeant wrapped up his fourth season as men’s assistant coach for Cal, which went from No. 51 to No. 20 national ranking in 2023. He coached the team to the Round of 32 of the NCAA Championships and last season, to the Pac-12 quarterfinals .
Before Cal, Sargeant spent the previous several seasons coaching at Stanford. He was a volunteer assistant for the Stanford men’s team in 2020-21 when he helped lead the Cardinal to the second round of the NCAA tournament and a No. 2 national ranking. The season before, he served as an assistant coach for the Stanford women, which reached a No. 1 ranking. He was a volunteer assistant coach for the Cardinal men for the prior three years.
Sargeant, a native of England who was an all-conference selection and captain at BYU, first learned about Menlo tennis through a former college teammate who played for the Knights. “If his skill, attitude, and effort were any indication of Menlo’s overall greatness (which I’m sure they were), I cannot wait to hit the court with the Knights,” Sargeant said about his teammate.
