Courtesy of Air Force Athletics

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Taylor Hollander has been named the next head coach of Air Force women’s tennis, as announced today by Director of Athletics Nathan Pine.

“We are pleased to welcome Taylor Hollander to the Air Force Academy as our next head women’ tennis coach,” Pine said. “Coach Hollander has tremendous energy and passion for the game of tennis and an appreciation for our mission of developing leaders of character for the Air Force and Space Force. I’m excited to see where our program can go under her leadership!”

Hollander most recently served a two-year stretch as an assistant coach at Colorado State under current head coach Mai-Ly Tran. In 2021-22, Hollander and the CSU coaching staff were credited for crafting the Rams’ most successful season to date, as CSU closed the year with a 15-8 record which included an 8-2 mark against the Mountain West. Eight conference wins in 2021-22 matched combined win totals against Mountain West opponents for CSU across the previous eight seasons.

Prior to her time at CSU, Hollander served a four-year stint as an assistant at Sacramento State, where during her tenure the Hornets amassed a 22-11 mark against Big Sky opponents. While at Sacramento State, Hollander was directly involved in all aspects of the Hornets’ development and operations.

Hollander’s coaching career began at Queens University in 2015-16, where she served as assistant coach for both men’s and women’s programs and briefly stepped in as interim head coach during that stretch. During her brief stint at Queens, both men’s (15-4, 9-2) and women’s (14-4, 8-1) teams went on to win their respective South Atlantic Conference titles and advance to the NCAA Tournament, representing the Royals’ first tournament appearance for the men’s team in six seasons, and the first in program history for the women.

Prior to coaching, Hollander built her knowledge of the game studying under names such as Audra Cohen, Bill Clark and Keith Axelrod. Cohen, the current head coach at Oklahoma, led the program at North Florida during Hollander’s playing career. While at UNF, Cohen was a three-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year and led the program to four regular-season and tournament titles in a dominant five-year stretch; Clark is the founder of the Bill Clark Tennis Academy in Hollywood, Fla., a program credited with developing numerous players into college-ready athletes at top-level institutions across the nation; Axelrod is the current Director of Tennis at Lago Mar Country Club in Fort Lauderdale, developing some of the top juniors in the State of Florida and worked previously with Team USA.

Hollander earned her degree in child psychology at North Florida in 2015 while playing for the Ospreys under Cohen. She played four seasons collegiately, starting at SUNY Binghamton, where as a freshman she posted an upset of the then-standing Ivy League Player of the Year. She played her final three years at UNF, earning All-Atlantic Sun honors four times playing on the top doubles and singles courts. She earned second-team honors in doubles all three seasons and was a second-team selection in singles as a junior. A team captain in 2015, she was a three-time Scholar Athlete who won 47 career singles matches, making two NCAA Tournament appearances along the way.

In her final year at North Florida, Hollander was a two-sport athlete, throwing javelin at North Florida and placing in the Atlantic Sun Conference track and field championships.

From Coach Hollander:

“I want to thank Nathan Pine for the opportunity to lead the Air Force women’s tennis. During my hiring process, it was clear to me that his vision and goals for our program are clear, as is his passion for Falcon Athletics. I also would like to thank Shondell Reed, George Nelson, and Dan Oosterhous for their collective work during the hiring process.

“I am thrilled with the opportunity to lead, coach, and develop this program. I will continue to carry the torch – or should I say bolt – of the amazing program Kim Gidley has built. I know firsthand how tough Air Force is – CSU played the Falcons twice in the last two weeks of this past season. We barely escaped the first time in a 4-3 comeback win and two weeks later, Air Force did likewise to us in the conference tournament.

I have huge respect for the players currently rostered at Air Force – I know each of their games very well. I look forward to having them on my side and getting to know and work with them individually and collectively.

“We will recruit players that fit the core values and ideals of the Academy and will develop them into leaders on and off the tennis courts.  In tennis the Falcons will always be prepared to play their best tennis until the last tennis ball is struck.

A thanks to those who helped Hollander on her coaching journey:

“I would like to thank coaches I’ve admired so far throughout my career, who have helped me stay the course, working hard towards this type of amazing opportunity.  Florida State’s Jennifer Hyde used to run ITA summer circuits I began entering at age 14; My college coach, Oklahoma’s Audra Cohen who developed my tennis game and tennis work ethic and junior coaches; Auburn’s Caroline Lilly and Megan Falcon, Gonzaga’s Natalie Pluskota-Hamburg, and Andrew Veeder all inspired me while on the recruiting trail with their words of encouragement. Finally, I’d like to extend a thanks to the CSU tennis players – their record-breaking successes over the last two seasons helped me get here.”