Michael Mucci was hired in July 2023 as assistant coach with the Penn State women's tennis program.
In 2025, Penn State tallied 14 wins, its most since 2013, and went 10-2 in home matches.
The Nittany Lions collected five Big Ten wins, including victories over Indiana (4-0), Purdue (4-0), Rutgers (4-1), No. 14 USC (4-3) and Minnesota (4-0). PSU’s win over No. 14 USC was its highest-ranked win in at least 20 years.
Penn State was ranked in the ITA Poll for the final 11 weeks of the season, rising as high as No. 33 on March 11.
Junior Olivia Dorner was tabbed second-team All-Big Ten, while Patricia Grigoras was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.
In the Fall, Dorner and Maiko Uchijima won the doubles title at the ITA Northeast Regional to qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championships. The duo became the first Nittany Lions to compete at NCAA Individual Championships since 2012.
Dorner and Uchijima ranked as high as No. 46 in the ITA Doubles Poll and finished the season with a 22-9 record as a duo, including 12-7 in dual matches, 9-6 at No. 1 and three wins over ranked opponents.
Dorner earned eight singles wins at No. 1 this Spring, including a victory over USC’s No. 46 Grace Piper (6-4, 6-4).
Grigoras went 19-9 in singles as a freshman, including a 13-7 mark in dual matches.
Uchijima tallied 13 singles wins and 26 doubles wins in 2024-25.
In 2024, the Nittany Lions tallied six wins, including four in Big Ten play. Penn State earned ranked wins over #71 Michigan State (4-1), #73 Rutgers (4-3) and #49 Maryland (5-2).
Sofiya Chekhlystova earned All-Big Ten honors for the third time in her career and was named College Sports Communicators Academic All-District for the second time. Chekhlystova collected 16 singles wins and 10 doubles victories, while finishing the season ranked No. 4 in the ITA Northeast Regional.
Olivia Dorner and Karly Friedland ranked as high as No. 69 in the ITA Doubles Poll, while finishing the year as the No. 9 doubles pair in the ITA Northeast Regional.
Mucci served as the men's and women's tennis teams at Jacksonville State for three seasons from 2021-23. At Jacksonville State, Mucci tallied a 31-28 men's team record and a 31-31 women's team record. He was able to recruit over 10 key impact players, and the men's tennis team was ranked 33rd in the nation by Tennis Recruiting Network for its 2023 recruiting class.
Prior to coaching at Jacksonville State, Mucci was the head women's tennis coach at Southern Utah University for one season. He recruited multiple 9 UTR players before the school's program was discontinued.
Mucci served as Belmont University's men's and women's tennis coach in 2018-19. He helped Belmont's women's tennis team record its most wins in a season in over 15 years. Mucci also coached the men's doubles team of Marko Ilic and Hendrik Inno to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Championships and to a No. 8 national ranking by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Before coaching at Belmont, Mucci was the assistant men's tennis coach at the University of Delaware from 2017-18. While serving as assistant coach, the Blue Hens were able to accomplish a 17-8 record, the team's best record in 44 years. Mucci helped recruit the No. 18 mid-major recruiting class in 2018.
Mucci began his coaching career at his alma mater, Niagara University in New York, where he was the head men's and women's tennis coach from July 2015 to December 2016.
As a player at Niagara University, Mucci competed against top players from around the world in both juniors and college tennis. Additionally, he earned ITA scholar athlete honors in 2012 and 2013.
In addition to his coaching and playing experience, Mucci served as a tennis professional at the Village Glen Tennis Club in Williamsville, N.Y. and at the Tennis Club of Rochester in Pittsford, N.Y.