Fordham University Women's Tennis

Michael Sowter, who had served as Fordham men’s tennis coach for the previous six years, was promoted to Director of Tennis/Head Women’s Coach in September of 2021. Last year, the Rams earned the number one seed at the Atlantic 10 Championship for the first time ever. The Rams finished 16-5 on the year and junior Nevena Kolarevic, who was named the 2024-2025 Atlantic 10 Women's Tennis Most Outstanding Performer and First Team All-Atlantic 10, was named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I Northeast Region Player to Watch. Kolarevic was ranked seventh among all Division I singles players in the region, the highest ever ranking for a Ram, and she teamed with Julianne Nguyen to rank sixth in the region. As a team, Fordham was sixth in the region, their highest ever postseason ranking. Joining Kolarevic in earned All-Atlantic 10 honors in 2025 were senior Lorraine Bergmann and sophomore Julianne Nguyen with freshman Catalina Padilla being placed on the Second Team. Sowter had an immediate impact with the women's squad, leading the Rams to the 2022 Atlantic 10 Championship final in his first year as head coach and following that with the program's first Atlantic 10 Championship title in 2023 with Sowter being named the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year and receiving the Iron Major Award as Fordham's Coach of the Year. In 2023, Fordham advanced to the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals for the third straight year and the Rams were named an ITA All-Academic Team for the ninth consecutive season. Additionally, ten of the student-athletes were named ITA Scholar-Athletes. Overall Sowter has led the women's team to a 64-32 record over the past five years.   Over the previous six years, Sowter guided the Fordham men’s team to a 69-38 record with six consecutive years without a losing record. The Rams entered the 2021 Atlantic 10 Championship as the sixth seed, Fordham's highest ever at the Atlantic 10 Championship.   In the classroom, Sowter saw his charges record a 3.77 cumulative team GPA for 2020-21 academic year, the second consecutive year with highest GPA of any team at Fordham. Fordham men’s tennis was also named an Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team all six years he was in charge.   In 2020-21, Fordham went 6-6 in dual matches and was seeded sixth at the Atlantic 10 Championship. Seniors Fabian Mauritzson (first team) and Lutwin de Macar (second team) were named All-Atlantic 10 with Mauritzson also being named to the All-Academic team.   The 2019-20 squad was 7-3 and was coming off a big win at Dayton when the season was halted.   The 2018-19 season was a prosperous one as the Rams compiled 17-6 record, tying for the most wins in a single season in Fordham history. Mauritzson and sophomore Max Green were both named Second Team All-Atlantic 10.   The 2017-18 Rams finished with a 14-7 overall record, their third consecutive winning season. Freshman Max Green led the team with 15 singles wins, earning All-Atlantic 10 Second Team honors while Lutwin de Macar and Fabian Hansch Mauritzson teamed up for a team best 15 doubles wins. Sowter led the Rams to a 11-9 overall record in 2016-17, giving the Rams back to back winning seasons for the first time in over 20 years. Individually, Hansch Mauritzson led the team with 11 singles wins, while earning multiple Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors.   Prior to joining Fordham Sowter served as the head men’s and women’s tennis coach at NJIT from 2008-2014, helping establish both Highlander programs as consistent winners, a fact that was underlined when the women’s team captured the 2011 Great West Conference championship, becoming the first team from NJIT to capture a Division I conference title in any sport.   In 2012-13, the NJIT men’s team went 16-6 record, the second highest win total at the Division I level with freshman Markus Schultz finishing the year ranked 18th in the NCAA Division I Northeast Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).  He was the first NJIT tennis player to achieve season-end regional ranking from the ITA since the Highlanders began NCAA Division I competition in 2006-07.   The women’s team finished with a 15-6 overall record and went 3-0 at the National Invitation Tennis Tournament in 2012-13.  Senior Monika Graff was named 2013 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northeast Regional winner of the Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship for the second consecutive season.  The two-time Northeast Regional winner of the Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship is also a three-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association Scholar-Athlete and recognized earlier this year by New Jersey Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women “Woman of the Year” award.   The NJIT women’s tennis team repeated as Great West Conference Champions in 2012, becoming the first NJIT team to win back-to-back conference championships in the program’s sixth season competing at the Division I level under Sowter. The Highlanders finished with a school-record 21 wins (2011-12), the best ever for a program.   In 2010-11, Sowter was named Great West Conference Coach of the Year for women’s tennis and with freshman Ksenia Kuzmenko earning Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year honors in the conference.   At NJIT, both the men’s and women’s programs were honored as an All-Academic Team by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (team cumulative GPA of 3.20 or higher) each year Sowter served as head coach. In 2010-11, ten individual NJIT tennis players (six women and four men) received ITA scholar-athlete honors (minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50 and at least two semesters). Sowter arrived at NJIT after serving as head coach of the men’s and women’s tennis teams at Hofstra University the previous two seasons. He led the women’s team to a 14-10 overall record in 2007-08, while also directing the men’s squad to an 11-11-1 mark. Both records represented substantial improvements over the previous seasons, as the women’s wins total jumped from three to 14 and the men improved from seven wins to 11.   A native of Perth, Australia, Sowter was a junior college all-American at Wallace State in Alabama, before transferring to NCAA Division I Marist, where he was a two-time all-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference honoree and a two-time NCAA Tournament participant.   Following his graduation from Marist in 2002, he coached at the small college level for two years with Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y., compiling a 20-9 record and garnering Hudson Valley Men’s Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2003.   He returned to his alma mater as assistant women’s coach in 2004-05 and helped Marist post a 14-4 overall record, including a perfect 7-0 conference regular season mark. He resides in Greenwich, Conn.

Demi Jhaveri, a former student-athlete at Valparaiso University and Fordham University, was named an assistant women’s tennis coach at Fordham in November 0f 2025.   In the summer of 2025, Jhaveri served as a Social Producer at the US Open where managed real-time publishing across all USTA social channels (Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn), tailoring copy to each platform’s voice and audience. Jhaveri pitched creative content ideas and crafted interview questions to support US Open social media coverage and edited press conference and on-court interview footage into short-form video content and quote graphics.   A 2023 graduate of Valparaiso University, Jhaveri earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Digital Media. She was a member of the women’s tennis team as an undergraduate where she was a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention and recipient of the 2022-23 Team Scholar-Athlete Award.   Jhaveri played on the Fordham women’s tennis team in 2023-24 compiling a 7-5 singles record, playing at the fifth and sixth positions, and a 7-6 doubles mark. She completed a Master of Science degree in Media Management at Fordham in 2024.

Eden Richardson, who won an NCAA doubles title at Louisiana State University, was named volunteer assistant women’s tennis coach at Fordham University in September of 2024.   “We are excited to add Eden to our staff,” said head coach Michael Sowter. “To have a person with her background, both as a player and a coach, will benefit our program tremendously. Her experience playing at two national tennis powerhouses and winning an NCAA Doubles title will undoubtedly help lead Fordham to the next level.”   A 2021 graduate of Louisiana State University, Richardson was a four-year member of the women’s tennis squad, winning the 2018 NCAA Doubles Championship title. She was also a two-time ITA All-American (2019 singles & 2018 doubles ) and was named to the 2018 ITA Collegiate All-Star Team. The 2018 ITA Southern Region Rookie of the Year, Richardson was a two-time First Team All-SEC selection (2018 & 2019) as well as being placed on the 2018 SEC All-Freshman Team. A two-time Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) Player of the Year honoree (2018 & 2019) she also was named the 2018 LSWA Freshman of the Year and was a three-time First Team All-LSWA (2018, 2019 & 2020) selection.   Richardson earned a degree in sport administration from LSA with a minor in business.   Following her LSU career, Richardson played for a season at the University of Miami where she was the 2022 NCAA Doubles Championship runner-up and an ITA All-American (doubles). She also was named to the ITA Collegiate All-Star Team, earning First Team All-ACC and All-ACC Academic Team honors.   Richardson served as the Head Tennis Pro at the Bedens Brook Club in 2022 and since January of 2023 has been serving as the Head Tennis Pro at the Bronxville Field Club. She is PTR Certified pro in both Tennis and Paddle.

Amir Alkhafaji, a former student assistant coach at George Mason University, was named Director of Player Development for Fordham Women’s Tennis in September of 2025.   Alkhafaji arrives at Rose Hill after serving as a student assistant coach for the Patriots from 2020-2022. He mentored student-athletes, developing training plans and strategies to enhance their tennis skills and performance, organizing and leading individual and group practices, focusing on technique, conditioning, and match preparation.   Alkhafaji also has junior and adult coaching experience, working at the Fairfax Country Club, A-Plus Tennis Academy, and Springfield Golf and Country Club.   A 2019 graduate of George Mason University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, Alkhafaji was a four-year member of the men’s tennis program. He also earned a Master of Science in Biology from the university in 2021.