All the time and effort that Chris Russell has put into the men’s tennis team didn’t go unnoticed by the Pacific-10 Conference. A panel of coaches voted Russell the 2000 Pacific-10 Conference Coach of the Year.
It is the first Coach of the Year award for Russell, who is in his fifth year at Oregon. The Ducks’ 12-9 record is a four game improvement from last season, good enough for fifth place in the Pac-10.
This season, Russell guided the Ducks to their second NCAA appearance in school history.
“To be honest, it caught me off guard,” Russell said. “The great thing about it is that it’s recognition for the program. Anytime the [Coach of the Year] award goes out, I think it’s more of a tribute to the guys on the team, not so much the guy in charge. I think we have some very good character in our program, and they tend to make me look good. This is more about what they’ve done for us and what they’ll continue to do.”

Add honors
Senior Guillermo Carter’s dream season just had one more honor attached to it. After earning NCAA berths in both singles and doubles competition and a No. 39 ranking, Carter was named to the Pac-10’s first team.
Carter is only the second Oregon player to qualify for the NCAAs in singles competition. Carter has a 15-9 singles record with upsets over Stanford’s Geoff Abrams, Pepperdine’s Robert Kendrick and UCLA’s Jong Min-Lee.

Shattering the record book
With a 22-10 singles record, freshman Oded Teig has vaulted into Oregon tennis history. Possibly the best freshman ever to play at Oregon, Teig earned the best record of any first-year player with the NCAAs yet to come.
The freshman from Holon, Israel, is second on the all-time list for total wins in one season and is eighth in winning percentage (.647).

Finishing with style
A breakthrough year has pushed senior Joaquin Hamdan into the Oregon record book. Before this year, Hamdan’s best singles season saw only 12 wins. Hamdan exploded this season for a 20-12 record and a spot in the hall of fame.
Hamdan’s career total of 50 wins places him eighth all-time. His 20 wins this season is good enough for eighth on the single season list.

Add records
With an 18-9 record, freshman Leslie Eisinga and Carter are one of Oregon’s best doubles teams ever. The duo became the first Duck team to qualify for the NCAAs this spring after reaching the finals of the Pac-10 Championships. Carter and Eisinga moved into a tie for second in single-season wins. With at least two more matches guaranteed, the two could move into first place before the season ends.