Women's tennis hosts USAFA Invitational Sept. 26-28
9/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
This Week: Air Force hosts the USAFA Invitational this week, Friday through Sunday, Sept. 26-28, at the Academy outdoor tennis courts. Play begins at 8 a.m. each day. In addition, seniors Natasha Rizvi and Tiffany Tran are in the Rivieria All-American Tournament in Los Angeles, Calif.
The Field: Air Force, Colorado State, Wyoming, Northern Colorado, Arkansas State, Marquette, Miami-Ohio and Utah State.
Last Week: The Falcons competed last week at the Metro State Invitational, sending four freshmen to compete. Chandler Beachy and Carley Hatcliff each advanced to the finals and were declared co-champions of Flight B to lead the team. Beachy advanced with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Michelle Philips of Colorado Mesa in the semifinals while Hatcliff defeated Sarah Coy of CSU-Pueblo, 6-1, 6-0 in the other semifinal. In other singles action, Air Force freshman Yelizaveta Patenko fell to Kasey Love of Metro State, 6-1, 1-0 (ret.) in Flight A. Fellow Falcon freshman Sierra Stapper fell to Paula Coyos of Seward, 6-4, 6-0 in Flight A. In doubles action, Patenko and Hatcliff fell 8-2 in the semifinals of Flight A to Coyos and Paula Lopez of Seward. Beachy and Stapper defeated Emily Dodson and Amy Beeston of Colorado Mesa, 8-4, in the semifinals before falling in the championship match, 8-2, to Coyos and Lopez of Steward.
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 competes in the Long Beach Invitational in Long Beach, Calif., Oct. 3-5.
