EUGENE, Ore. – After guiding the Oregon men’s tennis team to its first NCAA Championship appearance since 2004, head coach Nils Schyllander has been named Wilson/ITA Northwest Region Coach of the Year. Schyllander and Idaho men's coach Jeff Beaman are the only coaches to receive regional coach of the year awards for both men's and women's teams in ITA history.

In his eighth season as head coach of the men’s side, Schyllander and the Ducks lifted the program to new heights, reaching the Pac-12 Championship semifinals for the first time in program history and the NCAA Championship for the first time in 10 years. The Ducks finished with a 17-10 overall record with six wins over nationally ranked opponents.

A native of Tessinkolan, Sweden, Schyllander first arrived in Eugene in 1999 as an assistant coach to the women’s team. He took on head coaching duties for the squad in 2003 and posted a 58-41 record in four seasons with the UO women. In 2006, he was named head coach for the UO men’s team, who hadn’t reached double digit wins in four years. Since then, Schyllander has led the team to double digit win seasons in seven-of-eight years. Schyllander has now led the Ducks to three straight 16-win or better seasons for the first time since 1979-1982.

This season, Schyllander become the second coach in program history to reach the 100-win plateau after defeating Hawaii. UO’s other notable wins this season include an upset of No. 15 Boise State – the highest ranked foe Oregon has ever defeated – two wins over rivals Washington, snapping Drake’s 37-match home winning streak and defeating Stanford for the second time in program history.

Schyllander helped guide two players to 20-win singles seasons this year in freshman Jayson Amos (24-5) and senior Robin Cambier (23-10), while Cambier and sophomore Kevin Farin registered UO’s second-most winningest doubles season in program history (24-7).

The Ducks will return nine players and six letter winners for next season, and are poised to continue reaching new heights under Schyllander.

The ITA gave 12 regional coach of the year awards, with each region consisting of at least 30 programs. To see the ITA’s complete release, click on the following link.