Men’s Tennis Coaching Staff Sweeps ITA Atlantic Region Coach Of The Year Honors

NORFOLK, Va. — The Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced its Atlantic Region awards on Wednesday afternoon and the Old Dominion men’s tennis staff picked up a pair of honors as Dominik Mueller was named Atlantic Region Coach of the Year, while Othmane Lalami was picked as Assistant Coach of the Year.

The honor was the first for both, and Lalami was the first ODU assistant to win the award since Sergey Avdeyev in 2019.

The Monarchs finished off an impressive season with a 20-8 record for the most wins under Mueller. ODU won the Sun Belt Conference Tournament for the second straight season as they defeated Southern Miss (4-0), Georgia State (4-0), and Georgia Southern (4-1) to win the crown. They also had the duo of Connor van Schalkwyk and Codie van Schalkwyk qualify for the NCAA Championships in doubles. During the season, ODU had wins over Wisconsin, Penn State, Boise State and VCU to highlight the non-conference slate.

“This honor is a testimony to our entire coaching staff, Johan (Varverud) included. We are all very close and enjoy working together and I think that’s part of our success. I’m very happy for Othmane since we all know he’s one of the best assistant coaches in the country and now the country knows as well,” said Mueller.