Meenakshi Sundaram, a native of Chennai, India, came to Nicholls after spending 2010 as an assistant coach at Texas-San Antonio where he helped guide the Roadrunners to their second Southland Conference Championship in ten years and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
After leading the women's program to its first regular season championship in 20 years, Sundaram was named coach of the year by the Southland Conference and LSWA for the 2015 season. The Colonels finished the year with a 20-5 overall record and a 10-1 mark in conference. Nicholls also made the Southland Conference Tournament for the second straight season after not making the postseason since 1999.
The team was led by sophomore Stephanie Barnett, who was named Southland Confernece Player of the Year. Barnett also went on to earn Southland Conference Student-Athlete of the Year and LSWA Player of the Year.
For the men, he has guided the Colonels to five consecutive appearances in the Southland Conference Tournament, including a second-place finish in the 2012 tournament. In the first two seasons, his squad captured three wins in conference in each season, which tied the program best for a single season. But his 2014 team surpassed the mark with a 4-2 record in the Southland.
In just his second season with the Colonels, Sundaram led the men’s program to its first ever ranking in the NCAA in school history. The Colonels were ranked 71 in the Spring of 2012.
Under Sundaram's tutelage, the Colonels have had at least one all-conference player in singles in each season, including three in 2013. Two of the honorees for 2013 - Dmitry Kozionov and Nico Mertens - received first-team honors with Mertens garnering Southland Freshman of the Year. Also in 2013, the doubles team of Kozionov and Jeoffrey Noblecourt received a first-team selection.
The importance that he stresses on the performance of his teams in the classroom was evident with his women winning the award for the highest team GPA on campus in 2013.
His uncompromising style of coaching and attention to detail when it comes to developing a player has seen his players get better every year. A player who joins the Nicholls family with ability, the right work ethic and the desire to get better is guaranteed to see her/his game reach its potential.
Prior to his time with the Roadrunners, Sundaram owned and operated Competitive Edge Residential Tennis Camp for 15 years, building the camp into one of the top developmental tennis academies in India. Several of his prospects went onto play Division I tennis, including: former ACC Freshman of the Year Sandhya Nagaraj (North Carolina State) 2010 ITA Scholar Athlete Varsha Shivshanker (Rice University) and Sundaram's daughter and SEC Freshman Team honoree Kelsey Sundaram (University of Arkansas).
As a collegiate player, Sundaram was an All-American at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas and went on to play at Texas State where he graduated a Cum Laude in 1990.
Sundaram's career as a player and a coach has kept him travelling throughout the world to work with and observe some of the best juniors in the world.
Sundaram is married to Kelly Wright and the couple has two children - Joshua and Kelsey.
Men’s Tennis Accolades
2015
Southland Conference Tournament Appearance
All-Southand
Lukas Clemens - Second Team
Kieran Cronin / Bernard Wezeman - Second Team Doubles
Southland All-Academic
Bernard Wezeman - Second Team
All-Louisiana
Kieran Cronin – Second Team
Bernard Wezeman – Second Team
2014
Southland Conference Tournament Appearance
All-Southand
Partha Adavelly – First Team, Freshman of the Year
Nico Mertens – First Team
Bernard Wezeman - Second Team
Partha Adavelly / Bernard Wezeman - First Team Doubles
Evan Karatzas / Nico Mertens - Second Team Doubles
All-Louisiana
Nico Mertens – First Team
Partha Adavelly – Second Team
2013
Southland Conference Tournament Appearance
All-Southand
Dmitry Kozionov – First Team Singles, First Team Doubles
Nico Mertens – First Team, Freshman of the Year
Roy Knight – Second Team Singles
Jeoffrey Noblecourt – First Team Doubles
Southland All-Academic
Damian Despotovski – First Team
Roy Knight – Second Team
All-Louisiana
Dmitry Kozionov – First Team
Nico Mertens – Second Team
2012
Southland Conference Runners-Up
All-Southland
Dmitry Kozionov – Second Team
All-Louisiana
Dmitry Kozionov – Second Team
2011
All-Southland
Dmitry Kozionov – Second Team
All-Louisiana
Dmitry Kozionv – First Team
Palash Tiwari – Second Team
Women’s Tennis Accolades
2015
Southland Regular Season co-Champions
Southland Conference Tournament Runners Up
All-Southand
Stephenie Barnett - Player of the Year, First Team Singles
Isla Brock - Second Team
Stephenie Barnett / Klara Skopac - First Team Doubles
Southland All-Academic
Stephanie Barnett - Studenth-Athlete of the Year, First Team
Klara Skopac - First Team
Isla Brock - Second Team
All-Louisiana
Stephenie Barnett - Player of the Year, First Team
2014
Southland Conference Tournament Appearance
All-Southand
Stephenie Barnett - Second Team
Southland All-Academic
Isla Brock - Second Team
2013
President's Award for Academic Improvement
President's Award for Academic Excellence
All-Louisiana
Parija Maloo – First Team, Newcomer of the Year
Marie Aubert – Second Team
