Michael Mucci was hired in July 2023 as assistant coach with the Penn State women's tennis program.
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.
