Jonas Piibor enters his third season leading the Gonzaga men's tennis program in 2020-21. He became the fifth head coach in program history on July 5, 2018 following a successful 10 seasons as associate head coach at Oregon.
In 2019-20, Piibor continued his record-breaking tenure with Gonzaga, leading the Bulldogs to their highest ITA Ranking in program history at No. 62 (Feb. 2020). Prior to the 2020 season being cut short due to COVID-19, Piibor led the Zags to its best dual record (10-4) and home dual record (5-0) in history. Seven players recorded double-figure wins during the shortened season—led by Matthew Hollingworth with 20—while Hollingworth and Sam Feit teamed up to earn the program’s highest ever doubles ranking at No. 33, released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association in early February 2020. In the fall of 2019, Feit and Hollingworth paired up to produced the best finish by a pair at the ITA Northwest Regional, advancing to the semifinals for the deepest run in program history. The Zags were poised for another record-breaking West Coast Conference season before the cancellation of the spring season.
Piibor’s Zags also excelled off the court, combining for a department-record 3.90 team GPA in the spring of 2020. The Bulldogs collected a program-record 10 ITA Scholar Athlete awards in addition to being named an ITA All-Academic Team for the second-straight season. In the spring of 2020 alone, the program produced eight perfect 4.0 GPAS, nine President’s List and two Dean’s List honorees. The Bulldogs also contributed 191.5 hours to community service during the 2019-20 season with seven different agencies. The men’s tennis program ranked second in the entire department for community service hours volunteered per person, just shy of 16 hours.
Under Piibor’s guidance, GU’s recruiting prowess continued as the Zags inked the 10th-best recruiting class among all mid-majors for the 2020-21 season, signing highly ranked players from Mexico, Canada, Austria and California.
Piibor led Gonzaga to unprecedented heights in his first year at the helm, ending the season with the program's first-ever ITA ranking at No. 75. The Zags went 16-8 overall and were second in the West Coast Conference with a 7-2 mark, both program records. During the course of the season, GU defeated its highest-ranked opponent ever in then-No. 31 BYU, defeated Portland and Pepperdine each for the first time ever, and collected its first conference road win in the program. Gonzaga had three players honored on the All-WCC Teams, with Sam Feit on the Singles First Team, Feit and Ruadhan O'Sullivan on the Doubles First Team, and O'Sullivan and Vincent Rettke each named the Honorable Mention in Singles as well.
Not only was GU successful on the court, but academically as well. Piibor's squad set a program record with five players named to WCC All-Academic Teams, while also placing four on the ITA Scholar-Athlete Team. The squad also earned the ITA All-Academic Team honor.
To wrap up his first year, Piibor put together the best recruiting class in program history, bringing in the No. 24-ranked class in the nation and third-best class among mid-majors. The group was led by three highly-ranked players according to TennisRecruiting.net with the nation's No. 15-ranked overall player in Eric Hadigian, No. 35 overall player in Oliver Andersson and No. 115-ranked player in Brandon Park.
Prior to Gonzaga, Piibor helped the University of Oregon to their most successful stretch in 30 years as associate head coach, posting a 153-96 overall record in the last 10 seasons. Most recently in 2018, Piibor helped guide the Ducks to an 18-10 overall record, marking the seventh-straight season UO has recorded 15 or more wins and a program record nine-straight seasons with a .500 win percentage or higher.
Piibor was instrumental in Oregon’s growth into a perennial national competitor. In his final three seasons with the Ducks, Piibor helped navigate UO to a program record three-straight NCAA Tournament opening-round victories in addition to two-straight fourth place finishes in the Pac-12, also a program record. In Oregon’s 2016 NCAA Tournament appearance, the Ducks defeated Tulsa in the opening round to advance to the second round for the first time in program history. UO also found its place among the elite programs in the country as the Ducks finished the 2018 and 2017 seasons inside the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) top 50, finishing 2018 ranked No. 32 bested only by a No. 24 ranking in 2017, the highest ever season-end ranking. 2017 saw another program first for the Ducks as they were ranked inside the ITA top 25 each of the final 12 rankings marking the longest streak in program history. In 2016, Oregon eclipsed another milestone as the Ducks cracked the ITA top 20 for the first time in program history; UO was placed at No. 20 on the ITA Team Rankings on Feb. 22, 2016.
Piibor helped to cement UO’s status as a growing national program in 2014, as the Ducks made their first ever Pac-12 Championship semifinal appearance as well as their first NCAA Championship appearance in 10 years. That season, the Ducks posted a 17-10 overall record with six wins over nationally ranked opponents and numerous milestone victories. Among the most prestigious of those milestones was Oregon’s first ever ITA top 25 national ranking, which was achieved on March 16, 2014 with a No. 24 ranking.
In addition to climbing the national ranks, Oregon also saw multiple first-time program wins under Piibor’s guidance. In 2018, the Ducks defeated Cal for the first time in program history, downing the Golden Bears in back-to-back matches in April. In 2013, Piibor helped Oregon to its first-ever win over Stanford, defeating the No. 15 Cardinal 4-3 in Eugene on April 6 to match the highest-ranked win in program history. In 2014, the Ducks ended a 10-season skid to Washington, defeating the Huskies 4-1 on March 1, 2014 to kick start a five-match win streak over UW in the last five seasons.
In 10 seasons at Oregon, Piibor coached student-athletes to six of the top seven singles seasons in program history and all four of the top doubles seasons. He also coached Oregon’s all-time winningest player, Jayson Amos, who graduated in 2017 with the program record for singles wins (93). Also in 2017, then-sophomore Thomas Laurent won 30 matches to shatter the previous UO single-season record.
Under Piibor’s guidance, Oregon saw 10 players earn all-conference recognition, led by Laurent who became only the second player in UO history to earn back-to-back All-Pac-12 First Team honors, claiming the honor in both 2017 and 2018. Two Ducks were named All-Pac-12 Second Team (Robin Cambier; 2014 and Daan Maasland; 2015, 2016), while five picked up Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 honors (Kevin Farin, 2014; Simon Stevens, 2015; Thomas Laurent, 2016; Jayson Amos, 2017; Akihiro Tanaka, 2017).
Along with Oregon’s growth on the court, the Ducks also advanced academically during Piibor’s tenure. From 2011 to 2018, UO saw 22 players earn academic all-conference honors; nine players were named Pac-10 First Team All-Academic and Pac-12 First Team All-Academic while 13 players picked up second team honors (One Pac-10 Second Team; 12 Pac-12 Second Team). Piibor’s student-athletes were also among the top in the country. During his time at Oregon, the men’s tennis team was awarded the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award, an award given to programs that rank in the top 10 percent of their sport in the multiyear Academic Progress Rates (APR). Furthermore, more than 20 student-athletes under Piibor’s guidance were named ITA Scholar Athletes, an award presented to student-athletes who carry a 3.50 GPA or higher and are part of a program that carries a cumulative 3.20 GPA or higher.
Prior to his time at Oregon, Piibor spent a combined five seasons at Indiana State, with his first two seasons spent as an assistant coach before taking over as head coach for the 2005-08 seasons. During his time with Sycamores, ISU saw steady growth, finishing the 2007-08 season with an 11-13 overall mark including a 4-2 Missouri Valley Conference record, the best conference mark in years. Piibor also improved the program’s academic standing, and in his last five semesters posted a team GPA of 3.0 or above. Two players were named ITA Scholar-Athlete All-Americans as well as Missouri Valley Conference First Team Scholar Athletes under his guidance.
Piibor also played collegiately for Indiana State, carrying the Sycamores to three straight NCAA tournaments. He was a two-time NCAA Individual Championship qualifier (2000, 2001), and over the course of his career was ranked 28th nationally in singles, 50th in doubles, was the top ranked player in the Central Region in singles, ranked fourth in doubles in the Central Region, was elected the ITA Central Region Senior Player of the Year in 2001, and was named ITA Region V Player to Watch in 2000.
Piibor graduated from Indiana State in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in fitness and exercise science and received his master’s degree in adult fitness from ISU in 2005.
| Jonas Piibor Career Records |
| Indiana State: Head Coach |
Record |
| 2005-06 |
10-12 |
| 2006-07 |
11-12 |
| 2007-08 |
11-13 |
| Oregon: Associate Head Coach |
|
| 2008-09 |
9-15 |
| 2009-10 |
12-11 |
| 2010-11 |
11-11 |
| 2011-12 |
17-7 |
| 2012-13 |
16-8 |
| 2013-14 |
17-10 |
| 2014-15 |
15-9 |
| 2015-16 |
19-8 |
| 2016-17 |
19-7 |
| 2017-18 |
18-10 |
| Gonzaga: Head Coach |
|
| 2018-19 |
16-8, 7-2 WCC |
| 2019-20 |
10-4, 0-0 WCC* |
*Season shortened due to COVID-19
