The Air Force women’s tennis team earned a 4-2 victory over New Mexico on Apr. 17, clinching the fourth seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming 2026 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Women’s Tennis Championship.
This win is significant for Air Force as it marks a single-season program record with eight wins against Mountain West opponents during the regular season. The result also ensures that the Falcons will skip the opening round of their conference tournament.
In Friday’s match, Air Force had to overcome an early deficit after dropping the doubles point for the first time in five matches. Senior Arianna Van Houweling and sophomore Shivaani Selvan secured the only doubles victory for Air Force, defeating Sarah L’Allier and Ana Veroux by a score of 6-3 on line two. This marked their fourth consecutive win as a pair, entering postseason play with an overall record of 12-5 together.
The singles competition proved decisive for Air Force. After an initial loss on line three, seniors Van Houweling and Abby Cotuna each won straight-set matches to tie up the score. Van Houweling defeated Yu Yun Tsai (6-4, 6-3), while Cotuna bested Bente Vandeputte (6-4, 6-3). Sophomore Sofia Mavor then delivered a crucial three-set victory over Maria Matsoukatidi (6-1, 5-7, 6-4) to give Air Force its first lead of the day at 3-2.
The clinching point came from sophomore Michalski on court six against Vianca Corley. Michalski took her match in two sets (7-5, tiebreaker second set), securing both her first career dual singles win and sealing Air Force’s overall victory before junior Nadia Kojonroj could finish her third set on court five.
With this result, Air Force concludes its regular season at an overall record of 11 wins and twelve losses (8–3 MW). The team now prepares to face its quarterfinal opponent in the Mountain West Championship scheduled for Thursday, April 23.
