Jim Giachino Steps Down As Tennis Coach
4/27/2016 4:42:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Jim Giachino is stepping down as women's tennis coach at Sam Houston after directing the program the past nine years.
During his tenure with the Bearkats, Sam Houston made eight consecutive Southland Conference tournament appearances, reaching the semifinals four times. His first Bearkat team produced the program's highest Southland Conference finish with a runner-up showing in 2007.
Giachino coached seven players who earned All-Southland Conference honors a total of 13 times and nine of the women on the Bearkats' list of the program's top 10 winningest singles players. That list includes Sam Houston all-time victory leader and 2009 Southland Women's Tennis “Student-Athlete of the Year” Irina Sotnikova.
“Sam Houston is very appreciative of Jim's service over the past nine years and his hard work and dedication to our womens' tennis program recruiting quality student-athletes,” Sam Houston director of athletics Bobby Williams said. “We will begin the search for our new coach shortly.”
Giachino joined the Bearkat staff during the summer of 2006 coming to Sam Houston from Missouri State University where he had directed the women's tennis program since 1996. Previously, he coached at Fairfield University, served as an assistant coach at Yale and spent 10 years as the head coach at Hamden Hall Country Day School.
“In my nine seasons at Sam Houston, I have had the opportunity to work with an outstanding group of student-athletes,” Giachino said. “I appreciate their hard work and dedication, both on the court and in the class room.”
The Sam Houston women's tennis team has consistently ranked as one of the leading programs academically for the Bearkat athletic department. During the 2015 fall semester which saw the more than 400 SHSU student-athletes compile a department record 3.22 overall grade point average (GPA), the tennis squad rated second among the 17 teams with a 3.64 GPA. All eight players on the 2016 squad own overall grade point averages above a 3.0 and the team overall GPA stands at 3.53.
Giachino was the university's seventh women's tennis coach. His players who earned All-Southland honors included Lata Assudani (2007), Sheridan Currie (2013), Brooke Mills (2007), Maddie Mortimore (2013 and 2016), Tatyana Postnikova (2007), Irina Sotnikova (2007, 2008, 2009) and Peta Taylor (2007, 2008, 2009).
