Mike Sowter comes to NJIT from Hofstra University, where he was head coach of the men's and women's tennis teams for the previous two seasons.

At Hofstra, he led the women's team to a 14-10 overall record in 2007-08, while also directing the men's squad to an 11-11-1 mark. Both records represented substantial improvements over the previous seasons, as the women's wins total jumped from three to 14 and the men improved from seven wins to 11.

His two-year totals with Hofstra were 18-24-1 with the men and 17-26 with the women.

A native of Perth, Australia, Sowter was a junior college all-American at Wallace State in Alabama, before transferring to NCAA Division I Marist, where he was a two-time all-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference honoree and a two-time NCAA Tournament participant.

Following his graduation from Marist in 2002, he coached at the small college level for two years with Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY, compiling a 20-9 record, while garnering Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2003.

He returned to his alma mater as assistant women's coach in 2004-05 and helped Marist post a 14-4 overall record, including a perfect 7-0 conference regular season mark.

He took over as head coach of Hofstra's tennis teams in February 2006, leading the men to seven wins and the women to three victories in his first season before an 11-win jump for the women and a four-win improvement for the men in his second season. His first recruiting class added four women to the 2007-08 roster, including the number one and number two players, who combined to go 30-5 in match play at their respective slots, helping account for the team's improvement from three wins to 14.

The Hofstra women's freshman recruiting class was ranked 10th-best among the nation's mid-major programs by the web site tennisrecruiting.net.

At NJIT, Sowter takes over two of the Highlanders' most successful programs as they prepare for their third season of Division I competition. In 2007-08, the Highlanders posted a 12-7 women's record and the men's team was 11-7.

In 2006-07, NJIT was 14-8 on the women's side and the men were 10-10, lifting the two-year Division I records to 26-15 for the women and 21-17 for the men.

NJIT and Hofstra faced off in each of the Highlanders' two seasons of Division I competition and Sowter's two years as Hofstra head coach. The Pride men defeated NJIT both times--6-1 in 2007 and 7-0 in 2008. The Highlander women won easily in 2007 (6-1) and again in a close contest in 2008 (4-3).

In addition to his college coaching, Sowter is head tennis professional at Bailiwick Club in Greenwich, CT, and he is a teaching professional at ProForm Tennis at Doral Arrowwood in Rye Brook, NY. He has also served as tennis director at Camp Vega for Girls in Kents Hill, ME.