Peter (Maxim) Sukalo enters his third season as the head tennis coach for both the men’s and women’s programs at Adrian College in 2016-17.
Sukalo also has served as an assistant coach at the collegiate level after stops at NCAA Division I Bethune-Cookman and Florida Atlantic universities.
“Adrian College is very excited to bring Maxim on board to coach our up-and-coming tennis programs,” Athletic Director Michael Duffy said at the time of Sukalo's hiring. “There has been gradual success including a second-place finish for the men’s program (two seasons ago) in the MIAA. Both programs have established new school season win totals recently and Maxim will be asked to continue to build upon those milestones.”
In 2015-16, Sukalo mentored sophomore Amber Laginess to a 16-4 singles record for one of the best women's marks in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The men's squad went 15-9 overall and 5-2 in the MIAA and produced a pair of first-team all-conference performers for the first time in program history.
Sukalo made an immediate impact in his first season with the 2014-15 Bulldogs as the record-setting men went 19-6 overall (including an eight-match win streak), 4-2 in conference play and reached the MIAA Finals. Other milestones include defeating Hope College for the first time since 1959 and earning the first-ever MIAA championship berth in team history. In addition, Joey Loselle became the first player in the program’s history to be selected first-team All-MIAA and Michael Mertz achieved second team in the conference.
On the women's side, Adrian posted a 10-9 overall record and 3-5 MIAA mark. The Bulldogs tied a school record for wins in a season and recorded their most victories in conference play.
Sukalo spent the 2013-14 campaign as an assistant coach at Bethune-Cookman in Daytona Beach, Fla. He was instrumental in player development and concentrated his efforts primarily on teaching footwork, fitness and technical progression. The men’s program won six matches and the women went 20-10 including a 6-0 mark in the Mid‑Eastern Athletic Conference. The team reached the MEAC Tournament championship before finishing runner-up.
He has coached a MEAC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year. In addition, Sukalo has guided three All-MEAC First Team performers.
In 2012-13, Sukalo was an assistant coach at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla. He worked solely with the women’s program that finished the season with an 8-10 overall record. Sukalo also was a head boys' tennis coach at International Studies Charter High School in Miami from 2012-14. The team had a winning season all three years under his tenure.
U.S. Professional Tennis Association certified, Sukalo graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor’s degree in history in 2007 and holds a master’s degree in management from the University of Florida in 2009.
Sukalo's impact on the Adrian College tennis program begins with a vision of success which includes program standards, daily action plans and the focal point on player improvement.
"Every day tennis provides our student athletes with the opportunity to improve themselves on and off the court. We take on that challenge every day and understand that our player improvement leads to success on the tennis courts," he said.
