Friday, April 28
Las Vegas, Nev.
12 PM MT
Air Force Academy
4
vs
3
San Jose State
Photo by: Grace Bradley/NCAA Photos
Championship Bound: No. 4 Women’s Tennis Advances to First-Ever MW Title Match
4/28/2023 5:55:00 PM | Women's Tennis
LAS VEGAS – The Air Force women's tennis team, in a season of peaks and valleys, finds itself in new territory after bouncing San Jose State, 4-3 – Advancing to the 2023 Mountain West Women's Tennis Championship for the first time in program history.
Air Force (12-11) earned points in doubles and singles (in order) courts five, six and three – With sophomore Alexis Odom clinching the team victory against San Jose's Irena Muradyan, going three sets before downing her opponent 8-6 in the final tiebreaker.
The Falcons claimed their 12th-consecutive doubles point, entering the championship round with an intact 12-0 team record against the league in claiming doubles. Court three duo of Courtney Swift/Arianna Van Houweling earning the Falcons' first doubles set, defeating SJSU's Lara Marco Mas/Olaya Iglesias, 6-1, winning their second doubles set in postseason play and improving to 7-4 in dual play; It was line one pairing of Sydney Fitch/Alexis Odom who clinched the opening point for Air Force, taking down Alba Pedrero Galindo/Carolina Millan in a 6-4 battle to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
Freshman Abby Cotuna lifted Air Force to a 2-0 lead, striking first in singles with a convincing 6-0, 6-2 win over San Jose's Raquel Pereira. After a Spartan win on line four, The Falcon freshman contingent rounded out another successful day, as Van Houweling completed her 6-4, 6-2, straight-set victory over Jovana Babic, earning her third-straight win and sixth-straight set to improve to 16-4 in dual play, while setting the stage for Odom's clinching win on court four.
Up Next:
The Falcons are fated for a 12 p.m. MT first serve in the championship match against No. 2 UNLV, Saturday afternoon at the Darling Tennis Center.
Head Coach Kim Gidley on the season, and what its taken to get Air Force into its first title match:
"All I can say is... what a team! A lot of people counted this team out at the beginning of the season. Playing the toughest Division I schedule in program history, competing against 11 nationally ranked programs, the team had their work cut out for them. The beginning of the spring season was tough. We had some heath issues and some academics that we needed to get straight. For the first seven matches, we were missing as many as three starters from our line-up. I have to give a ton of credit to the team for not giving up on each other. They lost five of their first seven matches but were in every one of them. We had players competing out of place and this forced everyone to be accountable for their match alone and they could not rely on someone else to get the job done. If it was going to get done, it needed to happen by them. Then we had the disappointing lose to Navy that seemed to turn the season around. After the match, our former Commandant of Cadets (General Steve Williams, retired) spent the evening with the team afterwards. Here, General Williams spoke with the team members about their future as Air Force Officers. It was an amazing conversation. It was at the dinner table that General Williams told the team about the OODA Loop.
"Since the Navy match, OODLA Loop has been a part of matches and practices, even when the team did not want to hear about it. For our first matches following Navy, the team defeated a strong opponent and their coach said after the match, "You didn't play like your record." What a great compliment. When conference play hit, even though it was March, we called all of conference play Air Power April. It is a term the team came up several years ago to mimic March Madness. It is time to rise to the occasion and play. Since conference play, the team has done that. The thing that makes this team so special is that they play for each other. There is no stronger love than to play for your sisters. This team gets it. There is no one super star, but a team of super stars. Everyone does their job every time they step out on the court. Since conference play, the team has won five 4-3 matches and then some tough 4-2 matches. Five different players have clinched the singles for the team, saving match points in three of those matches. You can't write this type of fight, grit and determination of this team. Even in our last regular season loss to Colorado State, the team members saved 11 match points in three different matches before Colorado State could clinch 7-6 in the tiebreaker in the third set. They beat us that day, but the team made it miserable for them to do. We all know we are not going to win every match we play - We just want to make them have to beat us that day and be a pesky fly that just never goes away.
"To be the first women's program at the Air Force Academy to make the finals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament is history in itself. As a coach who has been here 25 years and been a part of the Mountain West since its inception, this narrative could not be written any better. When Air Force joined in forming the Mountain West, planning scheduling was a challenge, and largely because programs didn't want to play us. The goal in conference play was to play for time and see if we could win just one set. It's no secret that the road to make the finals of the conference tournament has not been easy. The team had to defeat two teams they lost to during the regular season to advance to the championship match. Both matches have come down to the last match on the court in the third set. It seems fitting, that in order to make history, it needs to be epic. Sophomore Alexis Odom, won 7-6 in the third set and 8-6 in the tiebreaker with the team match tied at 3 apiece. All I have to say is, it does not get closer than that. We have a lot of tennis left to play tomorrow, but it would be pretty darn cool to have gone from being picked to finish 11th in the conference to being first.
"A special shout out to Coach Irmischer, who has motivated the team to be where they are at and to Hailey Stelse; Hailey had surgery in the fall and has been out for the season but has been instrumental in helping the team achieve success on the court as a player/coach. Lastly, a huge thank you to all our tennis players' families and the incredible alum who follow and cheer the team on. Let's go blue!
Air Force (12-11) earned points in doubles and singles (in order) courts five, six and three – With sophomore Alexis Odom clinching the team victory against San Jose's Irena Muradyan, going three sets before downing her opponent 8-6 in the final tiebreaker.
The Falcons claimed their 12th-consecutive doubles point, entering the championship round with an intact 12-0 team record against the league in claiming doubles. Court three duo of Courtney Swift/Arianna Van Houweling earning the Falcons' first doubles set, defeating SJSU's Lara Marco Mas/Olaya Iglesias, 6-1, winning their second doubles set in postseason play and improving to 7-4 in dual play; It was line one pairing of Sydney Fitch/Alexis Odom who clinched the opening point for Air Force, taking down Alba Pedrero Galindo/Carolina Millan in a 6-4 battle to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
Freshman Abby Cotuna lifted Air Force to a 2-0 lead, striking first in singles with a convincing 6-0, 6-2 win over San Jose's Raquel Pereira. After a Spartan win on line four, The Falcon freshman contingent rounded out another successful day, as Van Houweling completed her 6-4, 6-2, straight-set victory over Jovana Babic, earning her third-straight win and sixth-straight set to improve to 16-4 in dual play, while setting the stage for Odom's clinching win on court four.
Up Next:
The Falcons are fated for a 12 p.m. MT first serve in the championship match against No. 2 UNLV, Saturday afternoon at the Darling Tennis Center.
Head Coach Kim Gidley on the season, and what its taken to get Air Force into its first title match:
"All I can say is... what a team! A lot of people counted this team out at the beginning of the season. Playing the toughest Division I schedule in program history, competing against 11 nationally ranked programs, the team had their work cut out for them. The beginning of the spring season was tough. We had some heath issues and some academics that we needed to get straight. For the first seven matches, we were missing as many as three starters from our line-up. I have to give a ton of credit to the team for not giving up on each other. They lost five of their first seven matches but were in every one of them. We had players competing out of place and this forced everyone to be accountable for their match alone and they could not rely on someone else to get the job done. If it was going to get done, it needed to happen by them. Then we had the disappointing lose to Navy that seemed to turn the season around. After the match, our former Commandant of Cadets (General Steve Williams, retired) spent the evening with the team afterwards. Here, General Williams spoke with the team members about their future as Air Force Officers. It was an amazing conversation. It was at the dinner table that General Williams told the team about the OODA Loop.
"Since the Navy match, OODLA Loop has been a part of matches and practices, even when the team did not want to hear about it. For our first matches following Navy, the team defeated a strong opponent and their coach said after the match, "You didn't play like your record." What a great compliment. When conference play hit, even though it was March, we called all of conference play Air Power April. It is a term the team came up several years ago to mimic March Madness. It is time to rise to the occasion and play. Since conference play, the team has done that. The thing that makes this team so special is that they play for each other. There is no stronger love than to play for your sisters. This team gets it. There is no one super star, but a team of super stars. Everyone does their job every time they step out on the court. Since conference play, the team has won five 4-3 matches and then some tough 4-2 matches. Five different players have clinched the singles for the team, saving match points in three of those matches. You can't write this type of fight, grit and determination of this team. Even in our last regular season loss to Colorado State, the team members saved 11 match points in three different matches before Colorado State could clinch 7-6 in the tiebreaker in the third set. They beat us that day, but the team made it miserable for them to do. We all know we are not going to win every match we play - We just want to make them have to beat us that day and be a pesky fly that just never goes away.
"To be the first women's program at the Air Force Academy to make the finals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament is history in itself. As a coach who has been here 25 years and been a part of the Mountain West since its inception, this narrative could not be written any better. When Air Force joined in forming the Mountain West, planning scheduling was a challenge, and largely because programs didn't want to play us. The goal in conference play was to play for time and see if we could win just one set. It's no secret that the road to make the finals of the conference tournament has not been easy. The team had to defeat two teams they lost to during the regular season to advance to the championship match. Both matches have come down to the last match on the court in the third set. It seems fitting, that in order to make history, it needs to be epic. Sophomore Alexis Odom, won 7-6 in the third set and 8-6 in the tiebreaker with the team match tied at 3 apiece. All I have to say is, it does not get closer than that. We have a lot of tennis left to play tomorrow, but it would be pretty darn cool to have gone from being picked to finish 11th in the conference to being first.
"A special shout out to Coach Irmischer, who has motivated the team to be where they are at and to Hailey Stelse; Hailey had surgery in the fall and has been out for the season but has been instrumental in helping the team achieve success on the court as a player/coach. Lastly, a huge thank you to all our tennis players' families and the incredible alum who follow and cheer the team on. Let's go blue!
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1
#1 Singles Match
123
Carolina Millan / 0 [SJSU]
616
263
#2 Singles Match
12
Alba Pedrero Galindo / 0 [SJSU]
67
46
#3 Singles Match
123
Irena Muradyan / 0 [SJSU]
066
637
#4 Singles Match
12
Rozalina Youseva / 0 [SJSU]
66
32
#5 Singles Match
12
Raquel Pereira / 0 [SJSU]
02
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Jovana Babic / 0 [SJSU]
42
66
Order of Finish:
5,4,6,2,1,3
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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