When asked about Kyle Murray’s ability as a tennis player, Saint Vincent’s coach Brian Niemiec readily admits that the up-and-coming player is not the best. Murray admits this too.

And yet Murray makes up for his technical deficiencies with athleticism and tenacity.

Niemiec recalled a match last season when an opposing coach questioned Murray’s ability. Murray responded by defeating his opponent in two sets that weren’t close.

“He’s just super athletic,” said Niemiec, who has been the men’s tennis coach at SVC since 2017. “When you look at how he plays, there’s nothing that stands out, like, wow, he has the most incredible serve or he has great volleys or anything like that. He’s just so athletic and he gets everything back, and that upsets the opponents so much.”

If this bulldog mentality seems more suited to the brutal football field than the gentle tennis court, there’s a good reason for that. Murray is not only a football player, he also plays tennis.

Murray, 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, was named to the All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference second team as a punter last season – he averaged 35.5 yards per kick – and also made an impact on defense. With coach Aaron Smetanka’s secondary plagued by injuries, Murray was called into service and responded with 47 tackles, a fumble recovery and an interception.

He has also used his athleticism in punting. Last season against Case Western Reserve, he had a 14-yard run on a fake punt and threw a 35-yard pass on a fake punt as a freshman.

“We can play rugby kicks with him. Whatever we do, he can make some plays back there,” said Smetanka, who is entering his sixth year as the Bearcats’ football coach. “He’s not just a stand-still punter. He gives some deception to the other side of the ball. You never know at any point if he’s going to take the ball and just run with it or actually kick it.”

Murray, a graduate of Altoona University, has had quite a journey not only as a two-sport athlete at Saint Vincent, but also in deciding to end up at the Unity school in the first place.

Murray said he took a year off after high school to join the U.S. Air Force, but while waiting for the necessary medical clearances, he realized it was taking longer than expected and the new school year was approaching.

He had to make a decision.

“I couldn’t miss another year of school,” he said, “because I knew I would never go back.”

Instead, he enrolled in Saint Vincent’s nursing program, which was made possible through a partnership with Carlow at the time. In the meantime, he was finally approved to join the Air Force, but when Saint Vincent decided to develop its own nursing program, Murray said the question arose as to how many of his credits would transfer if he joined the Air Force.

So he stayed at Saint Vincent, where he is a 4.0 student.

“Maybe the Air Force is a career path I’ll consider in the future,” he said.

As for sports, Murray came to Saint Vincent to play football and had no intention of playing tennis. Tennis, he said, was something he just “played around with” in high school, his freshman and senior years, and did track in between.

But when he arrived on campus, Niemiec approached him about the possibility of playing tennis in addition to football. Murray said he was hesitant at first, but then gave it a try.

Last season, he went 3-0 in singles – playing one game each at the third, fourth and fifth positions – and 8-4 in doubles (7-4 at the third position). The Bearcats went 5-3 in the PAC and 15-7 overall.

“In high school, I wouldn’t really call myself a tennis player,” he said. “I was more of an athlete, and that kind of carried over into college. I relied on scouting everything out and just using whatever talents I had.”

“Then I thought maybe I should take this more seriously. … I’m still far from good, but I’ve definitely improved my game over the last two seasons.”

Niemiec said Murray sometimes comes to him after soccer practice to do extra volleying practice, and Murray’s serve has improved tremendously.

“One day we were at practice and I told him, ‘Kyle, it looks like your serve is hurting,'” Niemiec said. “I asked, ‘How are you holding your racket?’ and he showed me. We moved (his hand) over a bevel of his grip and the first three serves he hit aces right on the ‘T.’ After that, it improved tremendously.”

If Murray played tennis in college as a casual activity, the same could be said about his punting. He said he was buried in the DB rankings and didn’t see much action during his freshman camp when Smetanka announced the team would be holding tryouts for a punter.

“I thought, you know what, why not?” Murray said. “I never really punted in high school. When we needed someone to go out and punt, I went out there a couple of times.”

He eventually became the Bearcats’ starting punter and continued to hold that position in his All-Conference effort in 2023. The season was made even sweeter by the fact that he got the long-awaited chance to get more playing time on defense.

“It was a nice feeling to be back,” he said. “After a few years of not having live contact, it was great to be back.”

Smetanka said Murray’s experience from last season will help him compete for more playing time on defense this fall. He cited Murray’s lateral agility and hand-eye coordination as qualities that make him capable of playing defensive back, the same skills that make him capable of playing tennis.

Murray said he is looking forward to the 2024 season. The Bearcats struggled to a 3-7 finish last fall, but Murray said he noticed a culture change on the team and believes SVC is ready to shock some PAC opponents.

Regarding his role, Murray said he was open to any requests from Smetanka and his staff.

Maybe on offense too? Murray admitted that he had inquired about this possibility.

“I was rejected a little,” he said, laughing. “But it wasn’t a clear ‘no.'”