Ask who the best tennis player was in Butler High School history and you won't hear much of a debate.

It's Pete Steenbergen.

"There isn't even a close second," said former Butler tennis coach Dave Barnes.

Steenbergen, a 1973 Butler graduate, will join Barnes as a member of the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame when he is inducted during its annual banquet April 24 at the Butler Days Inn.

Now a radiologist in Bridgeport, Conn., Steenbergen carried a combined singles and doubles record of 86-9 during his four years with the Golden Tornado boys tennis team.

He was unbeaten in singles play - 50-0 - during the regular season in that time.

"Pete was always head and shoulders above everybody else," Barnes said. "He had the combination of athletic ability and intelligence.

"He was a tall, lanky kid with a powerful hook on his shot as a left-hander. He had a devastating serve," he added.

Steenbergen was the third in a line of brothers - Charlie and John were the others - to play tennis for Butler. His brothers are now doctors as well.

"It definitely helped me growing up behind them," Steenbergen said. "They were an inspiration to me.

"Coach Barnes had a challenge system whereas you could challenge the guy ahead of you, and if you beat him, you could move up. I was always challenging people to play," he added.

Barnes said Steenbergen could have beaten some of his varsity starters when he was in eighth grade, "but he wasn't eligible to play high school tennis then."

Steenbergen played in the WPIAL singles finals from 1971-73. He teamed with Dave Stein to make the PIAA state finals in doubles in 1972.

Jack Cobetto of Edgewood, Bill Zatek of McKeesport and Steenbergen were considered the top three singles players in the WPIAL during Steenbergen's high school career.

"They only took the top two singles players to the state meet back then," Barnes said. "If they took the top four like they do now, Pete would have been there every year."

Steenbergen also lettered two years in basketball, averaging nearly eight points per game as a starting guard-forward his senior year.

But tennis was clearly his game, and he wound up playing for Haverford College, a Division III school near Philadelphia.

"Haverford was a tough academic school, and tennis was an effective outlet for me in college," Steenbergen said.

He was an effective player as well. Steenbergen was a Division III All-American for three years and won the school's Outstanding Athlete of the Year Award as a senior.

Steenbergen's four-year record in singles at Haverford was 41-8. He won the Middle Atlantic Conference singles title as a junior.

Steenbergen played at No. 1 singles and doubles all four years at Haverford, was team MVP three times and team captain his final two seasons.

"We played some tough teams," he recalled. "Swarthmore was the Division III national champion and they were on our schedule."

Haverford also played Division I schools Temple, Rutgers and Penn State.

While attending medical school at Penn State, Steenbergen continued to play tennis for a club. He has played in numerous U.S. Tennis Association Tournaments.

"Sports gave me a lot of confidence to succeed in other areas," he said. "I've always believed the drive I developed in athletics carried over to my everyday life."

Steenbergen's daughter, Sarah, is a freshman lacrosse player at Haverford.

"It was a pleasure watching Pete Steenbergen play tennis," Barnes said. "He took advantage of his opponent's inability to do certain things and knew how to utilize the skills he had.

"I've never seen another player like him."