Falcons open women's tennis season at Metro State Invitational
9/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Sept. 15, 2014
This Week: Air Force opens the season at the Metro State Invitational Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 20-21, in Denver, Colo.
Scouting the Falcons: The Falcons are sending just four players to the Metro State Invitational, freshmen Chandler Beachy, Carley Hatcliff, Yelizaveta Patenko and Sierra Stapper.
Head Coach Kim Gidley: Kim Gidley enters her 17th season as head coach of the women's tennis team at the Air Force Academy in 2014-15. The first civilian head coach in the 37-year history of the program, Gidley became the winningest coach in the history of the program in 2003 with her 76th victory. She recorded her 100th career victory during the 2005-06 season against South Dakota State and her 200th against Seattle University last season. She enters the `14-15 campaign with a 212-215 career record. Gidley led the Falcons to a 17-9 record last season, the first time since moving to Division I in 1996 that the team has had five straight winning seasons. Gidley belongs to several professional tennis organizations, including the United States Professional Tennis Association. She has been honored twice by the USPTA as the Intermountain College Coach of the Year, most recently in March 2008. Among her other awards, she received the USTA/ITA National Community Outreach Award for 2009 as well as USAFA's Instructor of the Semester for lifetime sports.
What's next: Air Force hosts the Air Force Invitational Friday through Sunday, Sept. 26-28, beginning at 8 a.m. each day at the Academy outdoor tennis courts. In addition, seniors Natasha Rizvi and Tiffany Tran are in the Rivieria All-American Tournament in Los Angeles, Calif., the same week.
The Air Force Invitational Field: The field for the Air Force Invitational is set with Mountain West Conference foes Colorado State, Wyoming and Utah State, joining Northern Colorado, Arkansas State, Marquette and Miami-Ohio.
