AMHERST, N.Y. -- Men's tennis student-athlete Lasse Mergens (Bochum, Germany) has been named the 2024-25 Daemen University Sports Medicine P.R.I.D.E. Award recipient. The award was presented by Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Medicine & Performance Jeff Sage during the 2025 Wildcat Night of Honors, an annual event held on campus to recognize the achievements of the university's intercollegiate teams and student-athletes.

Instituted in 2018, the Daemen Sports Medicine P.R.I.D.E. Award is presented annually to the student-athlete who best exemplifies perseverance, resilience, integrity, determination and expectations of excellence during an injury rehabilitation process.

We will be featuring each of the major award winners throughout this week on www.daemenwildcats.com.

Mergens is a staple around Daemen Athletics, working many home events, staying up-to-date on how each of the other Daemen teams are doing, and can be seen cheering in the stands for many of the teams on campus. After a solid freshman campaign with Daemen in 2023-24, Mergens came into his sophomore year ready to take on a bigger role on the men's tennis team, but late in the fall sustained an injury in an athletic endeavor outside of their sport. The injury unfortunately required surgical repair, and ended Mergens' 2024-25 season prematurely after the fall portion of the men's tennis season ended, and he would not be available to play in the spring competition season. It was a crushing blow to the Wildcats, who fielded just seven players for six spots coming into the 2024-25 year. 

What set Mergens apart is his resilience and hard-working attitude to get back onto the court. 

"Right from the start, the day after the injury, this student-athlete has been a fixture in the Athletic Training Room and Sports Performance Center working to get better and get back to tennis," explained Sage. " He was always taking initiative to reach out to schedule rehab and or strength workouts, and even staying in touch and seeking advice during University breaks. Working hard would be an understatement. In fact, it is not uncommon to see him coming in for double-sessions -- separate rehab and strength / condition sessions."

While working religiously with both the Strength & Conditioning and Athletic Training staff over the entirety of the spring semester, Mergens also put in the work with the tennis team, taking a different role this season after being sidelined with his injury. He showed up to every single men's tennis practice, attended every game in more of a coaching role, and even coached the women's team for their abbreviated non-competition spring season. His can-do attitude has been observed throughout Daemen Athletics.

"Some comments from our AT and S&C staff are: 'This student-athlete possesses a one of the best attitudes about coming back from an injury that I've ever worked with.' 'He's extremely coachable.' 'He never expressed any self-pity or self-doubt about making a full recovery.' And 'He put in an honest effort to challenge himself to the best of their abilities to set himself up to return stronger then ever,'" Sage said.

Mergens is the first men's tennis player to receive the Sports Medicine P.R.I.D.E. Award. Previous recipients include women's volleyball player Courtney Bernard (2018), men's basketball player Nick Petrucelli (2019), women's soccer player Katelyn Sidoti (2020), women's volleyball player Allison Post (2021), women's basketball player Tiara Filbert (2022), women's soccer player Gretchen Beyer (2023), and women's lacrosse player Camryn Day (2024). 

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