Women's tennis heads to MW Championships
4/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
This week: Air Force heads to the Mountain West Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., at the McKinnon Family Tennis Center. The eighth-seeded Falcons take on ninth-seeded Colorado State on Wednesday, April 22, at 9 a.m. The winner of the match takes on top-seeded Fresno State on Friday, April 24, at Noon.
Last week: New Mexico, ranked 69th nationally and fourth in the conference, defeated Air Force, 4-3, in a Mountain West women's tennis match at the Academy Indoor Tennis Courts. Air Force opened the four-hour match by winning the doubles point. Tracy Landram and Natasha Rizvi defeated Emily Oliver and Natasha Smith, 6-0, at No. 1 doubles while Mary Meyers and Lily Forlini beat Sharon Coone and Dominique Dulski, 6-1, at No. 2 to secure the point. The third doubles match was tied 4-4 and was not finished. The singles matches provided great theatre for the ruckus crowd in attendance on senior day at the Academy. Landram gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead in the match, winning in straight sets at No. 4 singles over Rachana Bhat, 6-4, 6-4. Dulski got the Lobos on the board with a 7-5, 6-2 win at No. 3 singles over Chloe Forlini. Oliver evened the match at 2-2 with a 6-4, 7-6 (3) win at No. 1 singles over Rizvi. Meyers battled back in a classic at No. 2 singles to put the Falcons in the lead 3-2 with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (3) victory over Hopson. Susan Baklini tied the match at 3-3 with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles over Rudico to set up a winner take all match at No. 5 singles. Coone battled back down a break in the second set to force a tie-breaker before prevailing over Lily Forlini, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
Head Coach Kim Gidley: Kim Gidley is in her 17th season as head coach of the women's tennis team at the Air Force Academy. 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 has a 229-223 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.
