With over 20 years of coaching experience spanning high school, collegiate, and international levels, AJ Segneri joined the College of Lake County tennis program as Assistant Coach for both the men’s and women’s teams for the 2025–2026 season. Joining the Lancers in the spring of 2026, Segneri immediately impacted the program, helping guide the men’s team to a national bid at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament in Plano, Texas.
Prior to CLC, Segneri built an extensive collegiate coaching resume. At the NCAA Division I level, they served on the coaching staffs at Chicago State University, Penn State University, and Northwestern University. During these tenures, Segneri focused on elevating match play performance, including guiding Chicago State to its historic first-ever appearance at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships.
As a head coach, Segneri led the NCAA Division III women’s program at Concordia University Wisconsin to consecutive Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) titles while producing five Academic All-Americans. This followed a successful tenure at Rockford College, where Segneri engineered a major program turnaround, directing the men’s and women’s squads to the NAC Tournament Elite Eight and Final Four, respectively. Segneri’s collegiate coaching career originally began at Sauk Valley Community College, where they served as an assistant coach during a sustained era of excellence that featured three consecutive national tournament appearances.
On the international stage, Segneri was selected to coach an elite international tour team consisting of top United States Tennis Association (USTA) section-ranked players. The team traveled throughout Europe, competing in prestigious tournaments across Italy, France, and the Netherlands. Under Segneri's guidance, tour players Ethan Nadler and Elliot Thacker became the first competitors from the United States to reach the semifinals of the historic Harderwijk Open in the Netherlands, with Nadler ultimately advancing to become the tournament's first American finalist.
At the prep and grassroots levels, Segneri previously revitalized the boys' tennis program at their alma mater, Sterling High School, advancing six players to the Illinois State Tournament over a four-year span. Additionally, they developed a robust USTA Junior Team Tennis program at the Westwood Tennis Center in Sterling, Illinois, establishing a traveling team that qualified for the USTA Midwest Team Tournament in Indianapolis for 5 consecutive years.
Outside of the team collegiate environment, Segneri has enjoyed a long career as an elite tennis instructor and player development specialist. They have designed and executed high-quality programming across all age groups, managing traveling and in-house leagues for adults and youth alike. A cornerstone of their instructional background is high-performance academy training, where they specialize in preparing elite high school prospects for the rigorous physical and strategic demands of college tennis.
As a competitor, Segneri was a standout junior on the USTA circuit and played prep tennis at Sterling High School. They began their collegiate playing career at Sauk Valley Community College, competing at #3 singles and #1 doubles, before transferring to The Franciscan University (Iowa). There, Segneri anchored the #1 doubles position, advanced deep into the Midwest Collegiate Conference, and earned a berth in the NAIA National Tournament.
Following their collegiate career, Segneri competed on the professional Futures and Challenger circuits, achieving world rankings inside the top 1500 in singles and top 1300 in doubles. They also continued to compete domestically as USTA league players, anchoring the #1 doubles spot for a 5.0-rated team from Rockford, Illinois, plus engaged in charity tournaments, such as the Todd McThenia Memorial Tournament (cancer) and Children's Charities Tennis Classic (pediatric health care).
