Jimmy Borendame

Jimmy Borendame is entering his third season as head coach of the Middle Tennessee men’s tennis team. Borendame has wasted no time making an impact on the MT program, rightfully earning back-to-back Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors after leading the Blue Raiders to a pair of conference tournament titles and NCAA tournament berths in his first two season at the helm.

Under Borendame’s direction, Ben Davis, Matthew Langley and Christoph Lang have each earned league accolades. Davis was named to the all-conference singles team twice and garnered doubles honors in 2012, while Langley was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in 2011 and 2012. Lang took home all-conference doubles accolades in 2012.

The 2012 squad continued the success from the 2011 campaign, knocking off seven nationally ranked opponents en route to the Blue Raiders 11th NCAA tournament berth. MT finished with a 19-8 record, marking the most wins since 1997. The Blue Raiders dropped only three matches over the final two months of the season, a 17-match stretch, with each of those losses coming to nationally ranked opponents. Men's tennis finished the season ranked No. 46 in the country, the highest ranking since 2006.

Borendame’s Blue Raiders have also gotten the job done in the classroom. Langley became the first Blue Raider in program history to be named a Capital One Academic All-American, earning third-team accolades in 2011. In addition, the team was named an ITA All-Academic Team and three Blue Raiders earned ITA Scholar-Athlete honors in 2011.

Borendame came to Murfreesboro after serving a one-year stint as the head men’s tennis coach at Drake in Des Moines, Iowa. He led the Bulldogs to a 15-9 record, which included seven wins in an eight-match stretch from late February to mid-March.

While at Drake, he tutored Mauricio Ballivian to Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year accolades and his third-consecutive All-MVC First Team honor. Ballivian paired with freshman James McKie as the All-MVC First Team doubles tandem.

Borendame arrived at Drake after a successful five-year tenure as the assistant men’s tennis coach at Virginia Tech, including the 2008-09 campaign as the program’s associate head coach. The Hokies posted a 70-56 (.556) mark, including three NCAA tournament appearances, during his stay in Blacksburg.

The 2009 Hokie squad advanced to the second round of the NCAAs after defeating UNC Wilmington, 4-2, and finished with a 15-8 record. Virginia Tech twice attained a program-best national ranking of No. 21 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association polls.

In 2008, he was tabbed as the ITA’s Mideast Region Assistant Coach of the Year, just one of eight national assistant coaches to earn the accolade. He also assisted in the development of 2009 ACC Freshman of the Year Luka Somen. In Blacksburg, he spearheaded recruiting, planned team travel, managed NCAA compliance, assisted with budget management, coordinated fundraising through Advantage Hokie (tennis booster club) and oversaw the strength and conditioning program.

He also has spent one year each as an assistant coach at West Virginia (2002-03) and William & Mary (2003-04). While with the Tribe, he helped W&M; to a No. 38 national ranking and victories over nationally-ranked VCU and Tennessee. A native of Wheaton, Ill., Bordendame played collegiately at Butler with a specialty in the doubles, where he was ranked as high as No. 33. He owns the school record with 98 doubles victories. He also received All-American Academic honors from the ITA in 2002, while serving as a team co-captain. He was a four-time All-Horizon League selection and won the 2002 Team Mental Attitude Award.

He is a USPTA certified instructor and was picked to coach the 2006 and 2007 Mid-Atlantic National Junior teams which participated in the national championships in Champaign, Ill. He also has worked as an assistant tennis professional at Woodstock Country Club in Indianapolis. Borendame received his bachelor’s degree with honors in finance from Butler in 2002 and a master’s degree in sport management from West Virginia in 2003. His concentration was collegiate athletic administration/sport marketing. He is married to the former Genevieve McNeill and they have one daughter, Lynden.