University of Detroit Mercy Women's Tennis

Paajanen, a young and seasoned professional, was named the head coach for the University of Detroit Mercy mens and womens tennis teams on July 27, 2015 and enters his second year at the helm of the program in 2016-17.   I am extremely pleased to have Aaron join us here at the University of Detroit Mercy, said Director of Athletics Robert C. Vowels, Jr. He comes from a tennis family and his experiences as a student-athlete, professional and collegiate coach will help us continue to build a pair of programs that will compete annually for championships.   I am very excited about this opportunity and I am ready to get going, said Paajanen. I have worked very hard to get an opportunity like this and I will give everything I have to help get Detroit mens and womens tennis on top of the Horizon League. The first year of Paajanen's guidance showed plenty of promise, with standout performances from his freshman class and all-league performers on the women's side. Under his tutelage, the rookie class combined to post 34 wins in singles, including a dominant 11-4 mark from freshman Iris Thioux, who also boasted a 9-0 record in Horizon League play. Meanwhile, Irina Slizovskaya enjoyed the best season of her career, earning Second Team All-Horizon League honors for the first time as a senior.   Prior to Detroit Mercy, Paajanen spent two seasons as an assistant mens coach at Jesuit institution Santa Clara, helping the Broncos achieve national rankings in both years, including as high as No. 42 in 2013-14. That season, Santa Clara finished No. 56 overall in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).   At Santa Clara, he coached a pair of players that were ranked in the Northwest Region's top-20 in singles as well as six players who received All-Conference accolades.   The Broncos also made a trip to the West Coast Conferences Championship semifinals in his first season, while he helped assemble a 2014-15 recruiting class that was ranked No. 12 in the nation and No. 1 among mid-major programs.   We want to be competitive in the Horizon League and consistently be one of the top teams, said Paajanen. I want to build teams that compete every single year.   Prior to that, he was an assistant mens coach at another Jesuit University in Loyola Marymount. During his tenure with the Lions, players earned eight All-WCC accolades. Loyola Marymount collected 47 wins in his four years, including a number of victories over nationally-ranked foes.   He started his coaching career as a mens and womens assistant coach at Paradise Valley Community College in Phoenix, Arizona, (2004-2005) under his father and longtime coach Jim Paajanen on the men's side and his mother, Barbara, for the women.  He was also an assistant in 2009 helping the mens team reach the National Junior College Athletic Associations (NJCAA) National Tournament.   I started off as an assistant coach at a junior college and then worked with Brad Sceney at Loyola Marymount and at a nationally-ranked program with Derek Mills at Santa Clara, said Paajanen. I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of great coaches and I learned a lot that will hopefully help me make this a successful program   As a player, he started his tennis career at Glendale community College in Glendale, Arizona, and was ranked No. 33 in the NJCAA in singles. He spent his sophomore year at Cowley College in Arkansas City, Kansas, under legendary coach and Hall of Famer Larry Grose was a NJCAA All American. From 2002-2004, he played tennis at Point Loma University in San Diego, California, where he was team captain and held a career winning percentage of .780.   After finishing his collegiate career, Paajanen briefly played the ITF/USTA pro circuit and was ranked in the top 500 before going into full time coaching. Paajanen graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University in 2004 with a degree in Kinesiology.