UTSA Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Lisa Campos announced on Wednesday, August 15, that Sasha Gozun was named as the sixth head coach of the UTSA men’s tennis program. Originally hailing from Orhei, Republic of Moldova, Gozun was a four-time American Athletic Conference Champion as a player and takes the reins for the next era of Roadrunners tennis this month following a five-year assistant coaching stint at Furman – the previous two seasons as associate head coach.
“I am extremely excited to be the next head coach at UTSA,” Gozun said at the time of his hiring. “This program has proven that it can be one of the best in the country and we intend to make that the standard. I want to thank Dr. Campos and Shanda Hayden for giving me this opportunity to prove it.”
Fresh off his fourth consecutive SoCon semifinal appearance with Furman, Gozun proved a top-notch recruiter for the Paladins, helping to secure back-to-back Mid-Major Top 25 recruiting classes in 2022 (ninth) and 2023 (13th). With his assistance, Furman also boasted consecutive Southern Conference (SoCon) Freshman of the Year (Jamie Connel, Jerry Barton) honorees. Gozun helped guide the Paladins to 14 All-SoCon Team selections, including eight first-team honorees and six members of the SoCon All-Freshman Team. During Gozun’s time in Greenville, S.C., Furman registered a .744 home win percentage (32-11) across the past five seasons. During his time at Furman, Gozun worked directly with the ITA 10th-ranked doubles duo of Jake Bhangdia and Jake Munns. After beginning his run with the Paladins in Fall 2019, Gozun was elevated to associate head coach in 2022, following a stalwart 15-9 finish in 2021-22 that saw Furman produce a 6-1 SoCon record and go 9-2 at home.
"I am delighted to welcome Sasha Gozun as our head men's tennis coach," Campos said of the hire. "He experienced success at the highest level as a player within the American Athletic Conference. As a coach, he has mentored some of the top players in the nation and is committed to developing student-athletes both on the court and in the classroom. Sasha has been very successful at both recruiting and developing top talent, and he knows what it takes to win championships as both a player and a coach. He is the perfect fit to continue to elevate our men's tennis program."
Before Furman, Gozun served as an assistant coach at Campbell for one season, where he helped lead the Camels to a 16-6 record in 2018 and a share of the Big South Championship. That Campbell squad also reached the 2018 Big South Conference Championship finals.
Before entering the collegiate coaching ranks at Campbell, Gozun was a tennis professional at the Tucker Tennis Academy, where he mentored and provided guidance to high-ranking athletes and developed and implemented training regimens for various athletes. Gozun coached some of the top juniors in the nation, including three players who ranked among the country's top 15.
After spending his youth in Moldova, Gozun relocated to Sarasota, Fla., at the age of 12. Capitalizing on the opportunity to play NCAA DI tennis and stay in Florida, Gozun was a four-year letterwinner at South Florida (2013-17), reeling off a 76-54 record in singles and was 63-30 in doubles action – appearing three times on the All-American Athletic Conference Team for doubles. As a senior in 2017, Gozun earned an ITA national singles ranking of 36th and was selected as the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Championships Most Outstanding Performer after leading USF to the AAC title. He went on to lead the Bulls to an NCAA first-round victory over Duke – ending the campaign with a 19-11 singles record. Gozun reached the NCAA Men’s Tennis Singles Championships Sweet 16 as a sophomore and the second round as a senior. He teamed with Roberto Cid in doubles, and the duo was ranked sixth nationally in 2015 and won the Bedford Cup Doubles Championship in 2014. On the heels of his collegiate career, Gozun won four ITF Future Doubles titles in 2017 and 2018.