While the Drury men’s and women’s tennis teams share a rich tradition of success that dates back many years, the key to the development of both programs into perennial national powers over the past decade is no secret. Talented players from the #1 position right through the #6 position in recent years have been the rule, not the exception. At the top this list of superior players is Matias Oddone.
Matias Oddone’s spectacular Drury career came to an end on May 11, 2006 at the quarterfinals of the NCAA-II national championships, where he methodically disposed of Valdosta State University’s top player, 6-4, 6-1. That win capped a senior season, and a career, that is unparalleled in Drury tennis history. In the fall of his final year as a Panther Matias became the first Drury Panther to win the ITA Small College National Championship, making Matias the top-ranked player in the NCAA-II. In the spring of 2006 he fashioned a 30-1 singles mark as he routinely defeated the top player on every team he faced. For his efforts that year he was named the Great Lakes Valley Conference Player-of-the-Year, the region player-of-the-year and...in the end...the NCAA-II National Player-of-the-Year.
To date, only three Panther tennis players have been named to the Drury Sports Hall of Fame: Gretchen Prather-Evans, Steve Grace and Jalal Chafai. However, at the conclusion of Matias’ career, Panther head coach Amine Boustani stated the obvious. "Matias will go down as one of the great ones in Drury history, right there with Jalal (Chafai)," Boustani said. "They're both Hall of Famers. With his attitude, leadership skills and playing ability, Matias is most definitely one of the best we've ever had, if not the best."
Matias’ body of work at Drury easily supports how special he was and how he and his teammates kept the Drury program at the top of the NCAA-II during his four-year career. The Panthers, as a team, were ranked in the top five nationally during the regular season all four years and the 2006 team was ranked #1 in the nation in the final regular season poll, boasting a 19-0 record at the time. The Panthers finished that year with a program best 25-1 overall record. During his four year career Matias’ Drury teams made it to the “Elite Eight” of the NCAA-II National Tournament every year and the overall team record for that period was an incredible 90-12.
Individually, Matias earned NCAA-II All-America honors three times; he was the Heartland Conference Player-of-the-Year in 2005; he was named the NCAA-II Player-To-Watch in 2005; he was the 2006 GLVC Player-of-the-Year; and, he was named the NCAA-II National Player-of-the-Year in 2006. He was the nation’s #1-ranked singles player in 2006 and in 2004 he and teammate, Akos Tajta, were the #1-ranked doubles team in the nation.
Matias came to Drury and had yearly singles records of 16-3, 17-4, 20-3 and 30-1...for a career record of 83-11. But this success came as no real surprise as Matias was the top-ranked player in his age group in the Cordoba region of his native country of Argentina as well as being a member of Argentina’s national team.
A computer science major, Matias graduated with honors from Drury on May 14, 2006. He also received scholar-athlete recognition from the Heartland Conference and the GLVC. His college career culminated by his earning Academic All-America recognition from ESPN The Magazine, this all as a result of his illustrious athletic career and his 3.641 cumulative grade point average.
Matias and his wife, Elizabeth Carla Oertlinger, currently live in his hometown of Newbery, Cordoba, Argentina where he is a system administrator for Hewlett-Packard. Today we pause to honor one of the best, if not THE best tennis player, in Drury University history as Matias Oddone becomes only the fourth tennis player in the long history of the Drury tennis program to be inducted into the Drury Sports Hall of Fame on this date: December 4, 2010.
