Coach Hynes will long remember more than reaching a 200-win milestone during his 11thseason of directing the Flames and Lady Flames. His two teams combined for 27 wins and moved his Lee overall record to 225-155 but gained many more honors for themselves and the veteran coach.
As he enters the official 2026 season and year No.12 at Lee his overall coaching mark stands at 549-434, including records for eight years at two other universities. Coach Hynes and his wife Judi make their home in Cleveland with their daughter Miriam and son Graeme.
His 11th year will be remembered for more than 200 wins at Lee. Both his teams flexed their muscles in the rugged Gulf South Conference and reached the NCAA DII Region Tournament for the first time. The Flames dropped a hard-fought match to St. Leo (Fla.) in the Region while West Alabama defeated the Lady Flames. The ladies received a Top 20 final ranking.
The honors continued when Ashleigh Simes became one of the entire athletic department’s most celebrated athletes ever! She was an ITA All-American, First Team Academic All-American, named DII Honda Athlete of Year finalist, Won GSC Commissioners’ Cup Trophy, Named ITA Senior Player of Year, and helped Lee win its fifth straight GSC All-Sports Trophy. Maria Penalver Aguilo and Simes were members of the GSC Academic Team.
Not only did Simes become the first Lee’s first representative at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Cup, but she also became the university’s first DII tennis player to be a National Champion after winning her fourth match in four days to claim the Division II Women's Singles Championship at the ITA Cup.
Flames
The Lee men advanced to the NCAA DII Region for the first time in the program’s history and reached the semifinals of the GSC tournament before falling to No.1 ranked West Florida. The Flames reached as high as 18th in the DII ratings and finished the season with an impressive 14-4 record.
After a strong season which saw the men's tennis team come in third in the standings in the GSC, three Flames earned places on the all-conference team. Wihan Van Der Merwe was on the first team while Quinn Groenendijk and Filipe Krohn won spots on the Second Team as announced by the league. Van Der Merve was named to an All-GSC team for the third time.
Said Lee Athletic Director John Maupin, “This year was a banner year for our tennis programs that produced a National Champion and NCAA postseason berths for both teams. Coach Hynes is doing a great job leading and elevating our tennis program, and he is doing it with the recruitment of well-rounded student-athletes. I truly believe that our tennis programs have a bright future ahead.”
Before accepting the Lee coaching position, Patric was an assistant coach at Indiana University for three years (2011-14). Since taking over the task of rebuilding the Lady Flames and converting it from the NAIA to NCAA DII, he has delivered despite going against one of the toughest conferences (Gulf South) in Division II.
A 2000 graduate of Lees-McRae College (Banner Elk, N.C.), Hynes received a Master’s in Coaching and Athletic Administration from the University of Concordia Irvine in May 2019. Patric was the winningest singles player in Lees-McRae history. He also was ranked in the top 50 in the NCAA Division II singles, and top 20 in doubles. He excelled in the classroom as well, posting a 3.63 cumulative GPA and graduated summa cum laude. After graduation, he worked as the assistant men's and women's tennis coach at Lees-McRae (2002-03) before being promoted to the men’s and women’s head coaching position (2003-04) where he compiled a 35-8 record with both teams.
Next came a step up to Presbyterian College (Clinton, South Carolina) where he oversaw both the men and women for two years and served as men’s coach for five seasons. As a DII program Presbyterian won the South Atlantic Conference Championship (2005-07).
In 2009 Hynes was promoted by Presbyterian to Director of Tennis and worked with both the men and women teams again. Against Division I competition, Hynes recruited the Big South Player of the Year, Grayson Mills. His 2010- and 2011-men’s teams claimed the Big South Sportsmanship award. He was voted the SAC Coach of the Year in 2006. At Presbyterian, Hynes produced 28 ITA Scholar-Athletes and two ITA All-Academic teams.
FLAMES
Hynes has turned the program around during his tenure. Since taking over the program Hynes has an 116-76 overall record, despite playing in one of the toughest conferences in Division II. Before accepting the Lee coaching position, Patric was an assistant coach at Indiana University for three years (2011-14).
The 2024 Flames tallied 11 wins against four defeats and landed three players on the All-Gulf South Conference teams. Francisco Faria and Wihan Van Der Merwe were named to the first team, while Jordi Dasi was placed on the second squad.
The season ended with a loss to Mississippi College. Earlier (April 4th) Lee had turned in an upset over the 17th ranked Choctaws. During the regular season, the Flames ran off seven straight wins before falling to always powerful Auburn Montgomery. Coach Hynes’ outfit bounced right back with impressive shutouts against West Alabama and Montevallo plus the upset over Mississippi College. The Flames finished the season ranked #29 nationally.
The (2023) Flames enjoyed their most successful season since moving to the NCAA DII and Gulf South Conference. They ran off nine straight wins to open the 2023 season, including victories over West Florida and Flagler, and climbed to a national ranking of No. 7 by the ITA, before ending the season at No. 13.
In the GSC tournament Hynes’ men whipped West Alabama in the quarterfinal round before falling to Valdosta State in the semifinals. They finished with an impressive 14-5 overall record and 6-3 in the rugged GSC. Seniors Nico Ramirez and Faria Francisco earned All-GSC First-Team honors and Hynes was named the Lee Athletic Coach of the Year.
During the 2022 season, Coach Hynes directed his club to a 10-7 overall record and 4-5 in the GSC. It was the third straight winning season and fifth over the last sixth years for the Flames who lost to Valdosta State, ranked 8th-nationally in DII. Lee had three players honored with Wihan Van Der Merwe highlighting the list after being voted GSC Freshman of the Year. Nico Ramirez claimed First Team All-GSC, while Diego Garcia and Van Der Merwe were named Second Team All-GSC. The Flames ended the 2022 campaign ranked #34 nationally.
The Flames finished the 2021 season with an overall record of 9-7 and 4-5 against GSC competition. Lee was beaten in the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament by 10th-ranked Delta State. Jesus Garcia was named GSC First Team and Nico Ramirez earned a spot on the Second Team. The men finished ranked #43 nationally in the final season rankings and had Jesus Garcia ranked #23 nationally in singles, and Bruno Medeiros & Antonio Pons finished at #20 nationally in doubles. Lee’s 2020 seasons were shortened to only 11 games due to the coronavirus and both the men’s and women’s teams were 6-5 overall and 1-3 in Gulf South Conference play at that point.
After going 10-9, 4-7 during the 2018 campaign, Hynes’ men completed the 2019 season with an overall record of 17-6 overall and 6-4 in the Gulf South Conference The 17 wins marked a new record for wins in a season. The team was ranked No. 45 in the final NCAA Division II standings after knocking off the University of Montevallo for its first-ever GSC Tournament win. Four players were named All-GSC second team in one of the top conferences in DII.
In 2017 Hynes continued to build his program as the men's finished with an 11-6 record and earned a 6th-seed in the GSC Tournament. The women were 8-7 and qualified for the GSC Tournament as for the second straight year.
In 2016 Hynes directed the Lee men to a 10-win improvement from the previous year. The Flames finished 12-11 overall and qualified for the Gulf South Conference Tournament.
LADY FLAMES
Coach Hynes and his Lady Flames completed the 2024 season with a 9-7 overall record and 6-4 in GSC play. The women ran off seven consecutive victories before falling to 10th ranked Auburn Montgomery. During the winning streak, the team claimed a shutout win over Carson-Newman and GSC decisions over Delta State. The season ended with a loss to No. 26th ranked Valdosta State in the GSC Tournament quarterfinals.
For the third season in a row, Lee University tennis player Ashleigh Simes was named to the Gulf South Conference All Conference team. She was named to the second team ALL-GSC in 2022 and the first team All-GSC in 2023. In 2024, she repeated as a First Team All-GSC.
Simes enjoyed a phenomenal season for the Lady Flames in the No.1 spots in both singles and doubles. In singles, the junior from Australia tallied a team-leading 12-1 overall record and 8-1 in GSC play.
In those 12 wins, she dropped only one set, which include a straight sets win over No.11 Estefania Garcia (AUM). In the final ITA poll, she was ranked No. 52. Simes joined with her doubles partner Maria Duarte, and they compiled a 12-2 overall record and were 7-2 in GSC play. The twosome finished ranked No. 28 nationally, with wins over two ranked opponents, AUM, and Mississippi College.
The Lady Flames finished the 2023 season with an 11-6 overall record and 6-4 in GSC play. They opened the year with five consecutive wins, including victories over West Florida, Valdosta State, Delta State and West Georgia before the streak ended against in a tough 3-4 loss to ranked Auburn Montgomery. The solid season ended with a defeat to another ranked club, Mississippi College, in the GSC tournament. The Lady Flames finished the season ranked #41 nationally.
Ashleigh Simes earned recognition as First Team All-GSC, while Micaela Maiz, a senior, received Second Team All-GSC honors. Simes, a sophomore, led the team with a record of 12-4 in singles. Sims and Maiz went 7-1 in GSC play in doubles. Maiz had notable singles wins over Verdu (UWF) & Pezo (VSU).
After going 6-5 in 2020 and 9-6 in 2021, the Lady Flames dropped to 6-11 in 2022 but were 4-6 against tough GSC competition before falling to 18th ranked Auburn Montgomery in the GSC Tournament. The Lee University women's team was among 110 women's tennis programs to be awarded the All-Academic Team distinction. The Lady Flames combined with the Flames to account for 12 of the 1,260 Division II athletes named an ITA Scholar-Athlete. Nine Lady Flames were recognized as ITA Scholar-Athletes. Those honored were Larissa Wieser, Lauren Trammell, Lisa Kirr, Lauren Good, Sierra Donaldson, Matina Udjur, Micaela Maiz, Hayden Smith, and Mirjana Ragastovac.
Hynes recruited the GSC Freshman of the Year in Francesca Tondi in 2016. With Tondi leading the way the Lady Flames were 16-10 in 2019 and qualified for a spot in the GSC Tournament. Tondi was named to the GSC All-Decade Second Team in 2020.
In 2019, the Lady Flames finished with a 16-6 overall record and 7-4 against GSC competition. It was the most conference wins by the women, and they reached their goal with a top 50 ranking in DII. Three players earned All-GSC second team honors. Hynes’ women were only 8-9, 5-7 in 2018, but found a way to win despite playing several matches without its No.1 player, Francesca Tondi.
