Ann Valentine to be Inducted into ITA Women's Tennis Hall of Fame

PROVO -- Ann Valentine, former BYU women's tennis coach and current women's associate athletics director at BYU, has been selected as one of six to be inducted into the ITA Women's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame this year. The class of 2002 will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this Saturday, Nov. 9 in a ceremony held in Williamsburg, Va.

Every two years, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional players, coaches and contributors in women's intercollegiate tennis. Valentine has been involved in collegiate tennis for most of her life as both a player and a coach. Admired for her impeccable standards of sportsmanship, Valentine played singles and doubles at Slippery Rock College and coached the BYU women's tennis team for three decades. While at BYU, she led a national effort to advance intercollegiate competition for women.

Valentine was a highly successful coach for BYU from 1972-95. As coach for BYU, she compiled a 427-175 (.709) record. She joined the BYU faculty in 1965 as an instructor and rose to the rank of professor in 1989, also serving as assistant and later associate director of women's athletics. Playing an increasingly challenging schedule, her teams won 15 conference championships, earned 12 Top 10 national rankings, and captured 31 individual All-America citations.

Valentine's many "firsts" include her successful campaign, with Anne Pittman of Arizona State, for team championships at the women's national collegiate tournament. She created the first national indoor round-robin team competition - now an ITA Grand Slam event. Devoting countless hours to directing tournaments, conducting clinics and chairing committees, Valentine received the ITA Rolex Meritorious Service Award in 1996, a year after being named the Wilson/ITA National Division I Coach of the Year.

In addition to Valentine, the Class of 2002 is made up of the following inductees: Jeanne Arth of the College of St. Catherine (Minn.), Pam Richmond Champagne of Arizona State, Laura DuPont of North Carolina, Betty Rosenquest Pratt of Rollins (Fla.) and Nancy Corse Reed of Rollins.

The ITA Women's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame is housed at McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va. The ITA Hall of Fame Committee selects inductees from the following categories: (1) outstanding collegiate players; (2) players who attended college and later had a significant impact on women's tennis; (3) outstanding collegiate coaches; and (4) individuals or corporations that played a major role in the development of women's intecollegiate tennis.