Courtesy of Air Force Athletics – 

LAS VEGAS – Efforts made by head coach Taylor Hollander and the Air Force women’s tennis team in facilitating the program’s upward trajectory culminated on Wednesday, as Hollander’s seventh-seeded Falcons earned a statement 4-0 shutout win over No. 10 New Mexico in the opening round of the 2025 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Championship in Las Vegas.

Showcasing maximum resilience and effort on the back end of a lengthy season for the Falcons, Air Force, after taking every minute of four hours in a 4-3 regular-season win over New Mexico on Apr. 4, dispatched of the Lobos in just over two hours of play to advance.

Air Force took its seventh-straight doubles point and eighth in its last 10 matches to gain an early 1-0 lead in the match. Alexis Odom/Maya Michalski struck first, taking five-straight games on line two against UNM’s Sarah O’Connor/Maria Sodre on the way to a 6-2 victory. With the win, Odom/Michalski improved to 12-5 in dual doubles and notched their sixth-straight. Freshman pair Shivaani Selvan/Sofia Mavor secured their fifth-consecutive doubles win and the doubles point for Air Force, battling to a 6-4 set finish on court three with Lobo pair Maria Matsoukatidi/Sofia Taborga.

Kojonroj was first to claim victory in singles dispatching of Matsoukatidi on line three, 6-1, 6-1. The sophomore dominated in her second career postseason match, getting out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set and earning four-straight game wins in the second to earn her 11th dual singles victory of the season and first straight-set win over a Mountain West opponent this season.

Selvan, in a rematch of her three-set clinching win over Lobo Taborga in the regular season, downed her opponent in a straight-set, 6-1, 6-3 win, scoring her first two-set victory since March 28 to lift Air Force within one court of a clinch.

In fitting fashion, senior Odom secured the shutout on line one, downing All-Mountain West singles selection Maud Vandeputte, 6-4, 7-5 after falling to her UNM opponent in a three-set battle weeks prior, handing the UNM senior just her third singles loss of the spring season.

The Falcons’ win over the 2024 regular season league champs marks both Hollander’s first career postseason victory and the program’s first postseason shutout since 2015.

Coach Hollander on a landmark victory for her Falcons:
“This team is capable of so much. They showed up ready to battle and took care of business today. They embraced the nerves and pressure that come with being the higher seed. All the hard work and time they’ve put in – on and off the court – is paying off. They can go as far as they want in this tournament and are ready for battle against anyone.”

Up Next:
Air Force Women’s Tennis advances into the quarterfinal round of the 2025 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Championship to face No. 2 Nevada at 11 a.m. MT tomorrow morning at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas.

Tennis Match Results
New Mexico vs Air Force
4/23/2025 at Las Vegas, Nevada
(Darling Tennis Center)
Air Force 4, New Mexico 0

Singles Competition:
1. Alexis Odom (USAFA) def. Maud Vandeputte (NM), 6-4, 7-5
2. Arianna Van Houweling (USAFA) vs. Sarah O’Connor (NM) 7-6 (7-3), 3-0, unfinished
3. Nadia Kojonroj (USAFA) def. Maria Matsoukatidi (NM), 6-1, 6-1
4. Sofia Mavor (USAFA) vs. Maria Sodre (NM), 6-4, 4-5, unfinished
5. Maya Michalski (USAFA) vs. Coumba Ben Niangadou (NM), 6-3, 5-2, unfinished
6. Shivaani Selvan (USAFA) def. Sofia Taborga (NM), 6-1, 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 6, 1

Doubles Competition:
1. VANDEPUTTE, Maud/Coumba Ben Niangadou (NM) def. Arianna Van Houweling/Nadia Kojonroj (USAFA), 6-2
2. Maya Michalski/Alexis Odom (USAFA) def. Sarah O’Connor/Maria Sodre (NM), 6-2
3. Shivaani Selvan/Sofia Mavor (USAFA) def. Maria Matsoukatidi/Sofia Taborga (NM), 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

New Mexico 8-16
Air Force 11-13