Phil Palko is in his fifth season as as assistant coach under head coach Eric Hovan for the men’s and women’s tennis program’s at Saint Francis University in 2025-26.
In the last two years Palko has helped both programs to the brink of an NEC Championship. In 2024, the Red Flash men reached the NEC Championship Game for the first time since 2017, while the Saint Francis women reached the title match for the first time in program history in 2025.
In the last two years, Palko as assisted with the recruitment and coached the NEC Rookie of the Year and an NEC Player of the Year. On the women’s side, Diana Zuba was named the NEC Rookie of the Year in 2024 and then was selected as the NEC Player of the Year in 2025 with Dasha Chichkina taking over the title of NEC Rookie of the Year in 2025. On the men’s side Tyler Nguyen was named the NEC Rookie of the Year in 2024 before Kevin Titus Suresh earned the distinction in 2025. In the 2024 season, Hovan and Palko were also named the NEC Coach of the Year for men’s tennis.
The 2024-25 season, the women’s tennis team had a banner year with a program-record 16-8 record. Zuba went 27-8 on the year to post a new program standard for singles wins, while Chichkina went 24-8 for the second-best record in team history. In addition, Kelly Dowuona became the program’s all-time leader in singles, doubles and combined wins. Zuba and Chichkina were both named to the All-NEC first team in both singles and doubles, while Sara Jankovic and Reagan Mangan were named to the All-NEC second team for doubles.
The 2024-25 men’s campaign was highlighted by the play of Suresh, and Nguyen and Mathias Tremblay, who advanced to the ITA Conference Masters in the fall, and were named to the All-NEC first team for doubles. Suresh, Nguyen and Alan Gonzalez were selected to the All-NEC second team for singles.
The men's side went 12-8 overall and 5-1 in NEC play in 2023-24. Hovan led the men's team to the NEC Tournament final for the first time since 2017. Nguyen, Tremblay, Gonzalez and Marc Fuste all earned All-Conference recognition under Hovan.
The women's team went 12-12 overall and 4-1 in the NEC in 2023-24. They made their first NEC semifinal since 2017 and saw Zuba, Mangan and Jankovic earn All-Conference honors under Hovan's guidance.
Palko assisted the 2022-23 women's team to 10 victories, which were its most since 2013-14. He assisted Bente Vandeputte to All-NEC First Team Singles honors after she led the team with 63 total matches played, 22 overall singles wins and a 16-4 record in dual match singles.
Palko brought local experience to the Red Flash after spending 34 years as a coach for Indiana High School, where he is also a retired chemistry teacher. During his time at Indiana High School, he reached over 300 wins with the men's team and coached the team to a top-four finish in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) in 2019.
He coached the USTA Junior Team Tennis to Regional Championships from 2014-2018 and was named USTA Allegheny Mountain High School Coach of the Year in 2016.
Palko is a 1988 graduate of Saint Vincent College with a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry, where he played tennis all-four years.
