One of the most decorated student-athletes in Embry-Riddle men’s tennis history, Juan Ortiz Couder is back at his alma mater as a graduate assistant coach for the 2022-23 season.
Ortiz Couder closed out his storied career with the Eagles by leading the Blue and Gold to the quarterfinals of the 2022 NCAA II National Championship.
Throughout his storied career, Ortiz Couder epitomized the Eagles' Student-Person-Player mantra having excelled in the classroom and on the court, as well as giving back to the community. Additional years of competition gained due to COVID allowed the Madrid, Spain native to complete his undergraduate and master's degrees in Software Engineering and pursue a doctorate degree. After compiling a 3.78 GPA as an undergrad and a perfect 4.0 in the master's program, Ortiz Couder currently has a 4.0 in pursuit of his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Ortiz Couder was named to the Sunshine State Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll and ITA Scholar-Athlete rosters six times each, was a CoSIDA Academic All-America first team selection in 2022 and was named a CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree twice.. He was a two-time Eagles of Excellence scholarship recipient and was awarded the 2017-18 Steve & Vicky Ridder scholarship. He was also named ERAU's Undergraduate Student of the Year in Software Engineering in 2019 and was the program's Graduate Student of the Year in 2021.
Ortiz Couder finished the 2022 season ranked No. 5 nationally in singles play with a 21-5 ledger. In doubles, he was 19-9 overall and held the distinction of featuring in the national rankings twice with two different partners. He teamed up with Andres Donayre for a 10-3 ledger at the top doubles position and a No. 11 national ranking, while his partnership with Luke Paschal yielded a 6-3 record and a ranking of No. 38.
His on-the-court success yielded several awards for the Madrid, Spain native who was named the ITA Senior Player of the Year, the ITA South Region Player of the year, and the Sunshine State Conference Co-Athlete of the Year in 2022. Ortiz Couder was a three-time ITA All-American and a four-time selection to the All-SSC team.
