St. John's University-New York Women's Tennis

Lauren Leo, a St. John’s alumna, will enter her 11th season as the head coach of the women’s tennis team after being named the 15th head coach in program history in August 2015. Last season, Leo guided the Johnnies to 14 wins, including a 5-1 mark in BIG EAST play and another appearance in the conference semifinals. The Red Storm opened the spring on a four-match winning streak, dropping only one game across those duals. From February 28 through April 10, St. John’s posted an impressive 8-2 stretch to secure the No. 3 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament. After sweeping sixth-seeded Butler in a 5-0 victory, the Johnnies fell to No. 2 seed Xavier in the semifinals. Under Leo’s leadership, Victoria Papadopoulou and Noemi Babikova earned spots on the All-BIG EAST Second Team. The 2024 campaign saw Leo lead the Johnnies to 13 wins and the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals, marking the ninth-straight time she has led the Red Storm to the final four. St. John's began the campaign 3-0 and won five consecutive matches from Apr. 10 through Apr. 20. The Johnnies picked up wins over Stony Brook, Hofstra and BIG EAST foe Villanova to end the regular season before downing 11-seeded Providence and third-seeded Georgetown in the conference tournaments. Under Leo’s watch, Mouna Bouzgarrou was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team. In 2023, the Red Storm made it to the BIG EAST Championship Match after going 13-9 overall and 5-2 in BIG EAST play. The Johnnies went on a five-game winning streak during

Sachs, who started at St. John's in August of 2018, oversees student-athlete development programming at St. John's including the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the #StormChat speaker series, Student Development 101/102 (SD101/102) peer leader program, NIL education, community service efforts, and is an active member of the Athletics Council on Community, Culture, and Social Justice. Sachs is the athletic academic advisor for volleyball and lacrosse, and sport administrator for women's tennis. Prior to joining St. John's, Sachs served as the Special Assistant to the Athletic Director/Student-Athlete Development Coordinator at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts. At Holy Cross, Sachs oversaw all student-athlete community engagement efforts, supported the Director of Athletics, and organized and created programming to emphasize and improve the development and welfare of Holy Cross student-athletes. Sachs completed an undergraduate degree in English at Holy Cross in 2015, while competing as a four-year member of the Women's Track and Field team—specializing in the pole vault. She earned her Master's Degree in Sport Management from St. John's University in 2023.