TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (July 17, 2017) – Former Oklahoma Christian All-America player Jaime Sanchez-Cañamares was named Monday as an assistant women's tennis coach at Florida State.

Sanchez-Cañamares, from Albacete, Spain, spent two years at OC, in 2012 and 2013. He started on the 2012 team that won the NAIA title, posting a 22-1 singles record. He rallied from a 3-1 third-set deficit to win the decisive singles match in a 5-4 semifinal victory over Embry-Riddle (Fla.), then took a third-set tiebreaker to win his singles match in the final against Fresno Pacific (Calif.), which OC also won 5-4.

Sanchez-Cañamares made the NAIA All-America second-team list in 2012. In 2013, he was named as a NCCAA Scholar-Athlete and Intercollegiate Tennis Association Academic Scholar.

He left OC following the 2013 season, when the university dropped the tennis program. He transferred to Embry-Riddle, where he helped that team to NAIA runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2015. Before he came to OC, he was a part of Fresno Pacific's NAIA title-winning squad in 2011.

After playing collegiately, Sanchez-Cañamares coached elite junior and professional players at Saviano High Performance Tennis in Plantation, Fla. He spent the 2017 season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Oklahoma State women's program led by head coach Chris Young, a former player and coach at OC.

Sanchez-Cañamares helped Cowgirls post a 25-6 record in 2017, a season during which they won the Big 12 title and reached the NCAA Division I quarterfinals. Four OSU players competed in the NCAA individual tournament.

"Sanchez-Cañamares is one of the most gifted up-and-comers in college coaching right now, and his impact will be felt immediately," Florida State head coach Jennifer Hyde said. "His capacity on court, his tennis IQ and his ability to connect with players will be a tremendous asset for our program, not to mention the national and global recruiting contacts he brings."

At Florida State, he'll work with a program that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament this year.

"I want to thank Coach Hyde for giving me the opportunity to be a part of the Florida State program," Sanchez-Cañamares said. "She has created a tradition of excellence and I am humbled to learn from her as we take this program forward- I am eager to start building relationships with the players and help bring this team to new heights."