Satellite Beach, Fla. – Lynn University's head men's and women's tennis coach Mike Perez stamped his name in the collegiate tennis record books on Saturday as the 26-year vet recorded his 1,000th career win as a Fighting Knight. The men's squad defeated Florida Tech 5-1 to boast the historic triumph for their leader.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Lynn 5, Florida Tech 1
Records: #9 Lynn (12-4, 3-0 SSC), #42 Florida Tech (11-7, 1-2 SSC)
Location: DeSoto Park | Satellite Beach, Fla.
Series: Lynn leads 21-2 all-time
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PEREZ PROFILE:
- Perez becomes just the eighth collegiate tennis coach in history, and third active, to reach 1,000 career wins.
- He began his head coaching career in 1990 at Lynn, taking over two young programs.
- Lynn has won seven national championships during his tenure while producing 170 All-Americans.
- Since joining the Sunshine State Conference in 1998, Lynn has won 13 SSC Titles with Perez taking home the Coach of the Year accolade nine times.
- David Porter at BYU-Hawaii holds the all-time wins record with 1,342 and counting.
- Perez needs just seven more wins to pass Xavier University's former coach, Jim Brockhoff. Current Northwest Missouri State University coach Mark Rosewell is next on the list with 1,029 wins and counting.
QUOTABLES:
"It has been a pleasure coaching so many motivated, hard-working student-athletes. This collaborative effort from donors, trainers, asst. coaches, administrators and really talented tennis student-athletes made these 1,000 wins. I look forward with renewed energy for the continued success of Lynn tennis and our special university.
"I think our success over these many years is simply recruiting the highest quality student-athletes that we are able, then working relentlessly to realize we deserve to win because we have done all we could to achieve." –
Mike Perez
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Lynn claimed the top two doubles contests to take a 2-1 lead into singles play.
- Pavel Mojha and Daniel Riggs got things started with an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles. At the top spot, Mehdi Laalej and Jean-Baptiste Mateo outlasted the Panthers, 9-7.
- Florida Tech earned its lone point in the match at No. 3 doubles, 8-6.
- The Fighting Knights utilized solid play from its middle singles positions to clinch the match.
- Laalej, Ethan Itzkovitz and Mateo all rattled off straight-set victories at the three-through-five positions.
- With the match decided and rainy weather quickly looming, the remaining singles contests were halted.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- The Blue & White have won their last five road matches.
UP NEXT:
Lynn will play its fifth match of the week tomorrow, Sunday, April 3 when the Fighting Knights host second-ranked Saint Leo at 10 a.m.
