As the Penn State men's tennis team played Sunday, three men engaged in conversation while watching the matches.

One graduated in 1966, the other in 1996 and the last will graduate in 2009.

They may be from different eras, but Bob Englesberg, his son Brett and senior Adam Slagter have one thing in common: Penn State tennis.

The Englesbergs traveled from Pittsburgh to participate in the Penn State men's tennis alumni weekend, an event organized by coach Todd Doebler.

"Our success in the future is largely based on our alumni base, and we need to continue to get them more involved in the program," Doebler said.

About 15 former Penn State players attended the event, which included watching the Penn State-Syracuse football game with the current team. The current Nittany Lions loved meeting the alumni and hearing stories of their careers, Doebler said.

"I've always seen those guys' names on the walls and the banners," senior Brendan Lynch said. "It was amazing to finally put a face to the name and hear the old stories of what they did with the old coaches."

The alumni used the weekend to reminisce about their career at Penn State and allowed them to introduce their families to the campus.

Patrick DeMarco, a member of the Class of 1988, said he wanted to show his three children where he and his wife went to school.

The alumni were also jealous that the current players get to play in the Sarni Tennis Center. Brett Englesberg said the difference between the old facility and the Sarni Tennis Center is "night and day."

"I missed this by one year. They were building this my senior year, and I was a little depressed," Brett said.

The alumni were also excited about the future of the program, lauding the efforts of Doebler to develop a good team and schedule challenging opponents.

"Having N.C. State and Pepperdine here shows that the teams wanted to play here and compete against them," Brett said.

Lynch predicted his own future by looking at the alumni.

"It was fun to see what they've done with their Penn State degree and tennis experience," Lynch said. "We can get a picture of what we'll be like 15 years down the road."

Because of the weekend's success, Doebler said the event will continue in future years, and Brett said more players will come as word gets out of the quality program Penn State has developed.

"We want to make it a signature event at Penn State so people know they can come back and watch good tennis," Slagter said.