The 2023 Conference USA Coach of the Year and 2019 ITA Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year, Sergey Avdeyev is in his fifth season as the head coach of UTSA men's tennis.
Avdeyev was announced by UTSA Vice President/Athletics Director Lisa Campos on Friday, Nov. 1, 2019
In his fourth season leading the Roadrunners, UTSA delivered a record-breaking campaign and one of the best seasons on record, as the 2023 UTSA squad went 18-7 for the most wins since 1985 (third-most in school history), was Conference USA runner-up and earned the program’s first NCAA At-Large bid in the fifth UTSA appearance. The Roadrunners set ranking records three times in 2023, reaching as high as No. 34 in the national ITA standings, finishing No. 7 in the ITA Texas Region. Along the way, UTSA produced an NCAA-leading 14-match win streak that included six wins over ranked opponents, and was named ITA's Team of the Month for March 2023.
Avdeyev was instrumental in the development of Sebastian Rodriguez and Alan Magadan who earned the No. 6 doubles ranking after their impressive run in ITA Regionals in Fall 2022, claiming the Texas Region title and reaching the National Quarterfinal. The pair also qualified for the NCAA Doubles Championships in Orlando, Florida. Rodriguez and Magadan earned first team All-Conference USA honors, while Magadan joined freshman sophomore Tiago Torres on the All-Conference USA first team singles roster. Collecting academic honors, sophomore Danijal Muminovic was named to the C-USA All-Academic Team and earned CSC Academic All-District honors.
After spending one year as a member of Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Regional Board, Sergey Avdeyev was promoted to the ITA Texas Regional Chair for 2023-24, supervising the operation of the Regional Committee, Regional tournaments and polling within the 15-member Texas Region.
The 2021 squad won 14 matches, marking the most under Avdeyev at the time, while the 2022 team went 12-12 while priming an impactful freshman class for success to come. For their efforts in 2021, junior Joao Ceolin and senior Juri Reckow were named to the All-CUSA singles first team, while junior Javier Gonzalez and freshman Garret Skelly garnered second team honors in doubles. Ceolin repeated on the first team in 2022, alongside freshman Torres was named to the All-CUSA singles second team following a standout rookie season that tallied 17 victories.
In his first season at the helm of the program, Avdeyev led a shortened season in 2019-20 as the spring season was canceled due to COVID-19. Despite the shortened season, Avdeyev directed the Roadrunners to six wins and saw several student-athletes progress in their development, including Rodriguez, who was tabbed C-USA Freshman of the Year.
Avdeyev took over the helm of the Roadrunners after serving as the associate head coach at Old Dominion where he'd been since 2016. He helped lead the Monarchs to the 2018 Conference USA Championship.
In 2018, Avdeyev was named the ITA Atlantic Regional Assistant Coach of the Year, while helping the Monarchs to the C-USA Championship. Avdeyev guided ODU to a national ranked as high as No. 25, and over the past three seasons, he has helped lead ODU to national team rankings as one of the top teams within C-USA and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2019.
Avdeyev has worked with some of the top players in collegiate tennis, helping three student-athletes earn regional championships during his time in Norfolk, Va., including a pair of doubles championships. Three athletes earned NCAA individual appearances under his tutelage.
In 2018, the Monarchs won the C-USA Tournament and punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. In 2019, Aziz Kijametovic won the Regional Singles crown. Avdeyev also helped Kijametovic to a national singles ranking, as well as a doubles ranking with teammate Francois Musitelli.
Prior to his time at ODU, Avdeyev spent the 2016 season as a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater, Oklahoma. The Sooners went 20-11 in 2015-16, but ended the season with a spectacular run to the NCAA Championship match. OU recorded upsets over No. 3 UCLA, No. 6 Wake Forest and No. 7 Georgia en route to the title match, before falling to top-seeded Virginia.
At Oklahoma, Avdeyev coached numerous nationally-ranked players and guided several Sooners at the Fall ITA Indoor National Championships and other individual fall tournaments. He helped to develop three players that earned All-America honors at OU.
A 2009 graduate of Oklahoma, Avdeyev was a ranked player for the Sooners in both singles and doubles. He played in the top spot for OU and served as team captain during his senior year in 2008-09.
Following his collegiate career, Avdeyev also competed on the professional circuit for two years. A native of Kazakhstan, Avdeyev was ranked in the top 10 in his country and was also a member of the junior Davis Cup team for Kazakhstan.
What They're Saying About Avdeyev:
"UTSA landed a great coach and person. He will do a tremendous job building the men's tennis program at UTSA and I am sure his student athletes will represent the university well."
- John Roddick, UCF Head Coach
"I've known Sergey since we played national level tournaments. He has always been a hard-worker and I'm not surprised he is continuing to impact other players as a coach. I'm sure he will help bring the level of the UTSA tennis program to new heights."
- Dias Doskarayev, Vice-President of Kazakhstan Tennis Federation, Davis Cup and Fed Cup Captain
"Sergey is a man of high character and integrity. His combination of tennis knowledge, passion and relationship with his players will provide great success for the program in the future. "
- Bobby Reynolds, Auburn Men's Head Coach
"Congratulations to UTSA for making an exceptional hire. Sergey is a proven winner and has shown that at ODU for the past 3 and a half years. He knows what it takes to win and will bring that mentality with him. I'm very happy for him because he worked hard for this opportunity. He will do amazing things, I'm certain of that."
- Dominik Mueller, Old Dominion Head Coach