Pavel (goes by 'Pasha') Zinchenko was named the head coach of the South Dakota women's tennis program in July 2025. Zinchenko embarks on his second Division I head coaching gig at USD.
Zinchenko comes to South Dakota after a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Colorado State University. In his first season with the Rams, Colorado State went 11-12 (5-5 Mountain West). The Rams advanced to the semifinals of the Mountain West tournament and posted a 7-4 home match record on the season. He coached a pair of doubles All-Mountain West performers (2024, 2025) and a singles All-Mountain West performer in Zara Lennon. Additionally, Zinchenko helped coached a doubles team to an individual conference tournament final in the Mountain West.
Prior to his stop in Fort Collins, he served as the head women's coach at Delaware State University for three seasons. Zinchenko recruited multiple All-MEAC players, including the 2022 MEAC Rookie of the Year, Kit Yi Kate Au Yeung. While at Delaware State, he led the Hornets to the program's first-ever MEAC conference tournament title match.
He returned to his alma mater in September 2018 and served as an assistant tennis coach at the Division II level. He helped guide the Emmanuel women to their first-ever conference title in 2019 and it remains the only conference title on the women's side.
Zinchenko started his coaching career at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas where he served as the graduate assistant for both the men's and women's tennis programs at Tabor in the NAIA.
Zinchenko earned has earned a pair of bachelor's degrees in kinesiology (2014) and sports management (2016) from Emmanuel University in Franklin Springs, Georgia. He earned his M.B.A with a concentration in leadership from Tabor College (Kan.).
