Pablo Russo

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Wittenberg Director of Athletics and Recreation Garnett Purnell announced that Pablo Russo has been named the university’s new men’s and women’s tennis head coach. Russo will take over the two programs after the departure of Dave Engle, who retired from coaching in May after nearly a decade leading the Tiger teams.

The appointment marks Russo’s debut as a collegiate head coach. A 2005 graduate of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala., Russo has spent the last four summers as the Head Assistant Tennis Professional at The Lakes Country Club and Medallion Country Club in Westerville, Ohio. During that time, Russo was a standout student-athlete at Spring Hill, earning All-America honors in 2004 and 2005, conference Player of the Year honors three straight years and leading his team to three consecutive conference championships.

He also put the ‘student’ in student-athlete, earning Dean’s List recognition throughout his junior and senior years at Spring Hill. With a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 while studying business management, Russo, the men’s tennis team captain as a senior, capped his career with his school’s Senior Student-Athlete of the Year honors.

A native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he was a nationally ranked youth player, Russo studied at Universidad Argentina de la Empresa in his hometown from 1996-99. Before earning a degree in finance, Russo moved to the United States and enrolled at Spring Hill.

“I am looking forward to working with the outstanding student-athletes at Wittenberg University,” Russo said. “This is a great opportunity. I am confident that we will be able to build a nationally recognized tennis program here.”

He takes over young Wittenberg teams that have finished in the middle of the pack in the rugged North Coast Athletic Conference in recent years. The men return three letterwinners from a team that finished 6-13 overall and in sixth place in the NCAC in 2006. The women have two letterwinners back after placing third in the NCAC a year ago while compiling an 11-11 overall record.

In addition to his coaching duties at Wittenberg, Russo is also the new teaching professional at Springfield Racquet Club.

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