MELBOURNE, Fla. – Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University tennis athlete Juan Ortiz Couder is selected as the Sunshine State Conference's Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor. The nationally-ranked athlete is pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The graduate student holds a 4.000-grade point average and recently completed a Bachelor's and Master's in Software Engineering.
Voting for the award is conducted among Athletic Directors, Senior Woman Administrators, Athletic Communication Directors, and Faculty Athletic Representatives from the 11 SSC member institutions.
Ortiz Couder, a native of Madrid, Spain was recently named a First Team Academic All-American by CoSIDA. It marks his third consecutive Academic All-America honor, following First Team honors in 2019-20 and a Second Team nod in 2020-21. During his career, Ortiz Couder was tabbed CoSIDA Academic All-District three times, ITA Scholar five times, SSC Commissioner's Honor Roll seven times, and ERAU Dean's List 13 times.
Outside the classroom and off the court, Ortiz Couder served the Embry-Riddle and Daytona Beach community as a volunteer for various organizations, including Team Impact, Habitat for Humanity, and Food Brings Hope. Using his love and knowledge of tennis, Oritz Couder gave his time to work with local children at Cardio Tennis for Kids and the Florida Tennis Center.
Ortiz Couder graduated as the most decorated ERAU men's tennis athlete in the university's NCAA Division II era. The Spaniard was named the ITA Senior Player of the Year, ITA All-American, and the SSC Men's Tennis Athlete of the Year this season. He finished the year with a No. 5 national ranking in singles play with a 21-5 record. He was 19-9 in doubles and held a national ranking with two different partners. With Andres Donayre, the pair went 10-3 and held the No. 11 national ranking. His partnership with Luke Paschal yielded a 6-3 record and a No. 38 ranking.
Ortiz Couder is the second Embry-Riddle student-athlete to win an SSC End-of-the-Year award since the Eagles became full members of the SSC in 2017-18, joining last year's winner Elijah Jenkins (basketball). He is the sixth tennis athlete honored and the first in 15 years. From 2002-03 to 2006-07, tennis athletes swept the SSC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the following order Ryan Dunne (Florida Southern), Mark Thompson (Rollins), Thomas Hipp (Barry), Sebastian Niedermayer (Eckerd), and Patrick Rittenauer (Barry).
Complete Listing: SSC Scholar-Athletes of the Year