Jim Giachino begins his ninth season as Sam Houston women’s tennis coach in 2014-15.
He has led the Bearkats to Southland Conference tournament post-season appearances seven times, reaching the semifinals in both 2012 and 2013.
In 2007, Giachino directed the Bearkat women to their highest Southland finish ever, going 9-2 in league play to finish as league runner-up. The Bearkats posted a 12-5 overall record, tying the school record for season victories at the NCAA Division I level.
During the past eight seasons, Giachino has coached five players who have earned All-Southland Conference honors including 2007 league “Player of the Year” Irina Sotnikova.
Jim Giachino joined the Bearkat staff during the summer of 2006 coming to Sam Houston from Missouri State University.
The Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2002 and head women’s tennis coach at Missouri State since 1996, Giachino directed the Bears to Missouri Valley Conference women’s tennis championships in 2000 and 2002 and the university’s first NCAA Division I national playoff appearance in 2002.
His women’s tennis teams have compiled a 56-24 record in Missouri Valley league play and 106 total victories. His 2001 squad achieved the program’s highest national ranking (53rd) and the highest team grade point average of any of the Missouri State women’s squads each of the past two years.
When Giachino first came to Missouri State, he inherited a team that went that went 0-17 the previous season. He began a rebuilding program that turned the Bears into a powerhouse in the Missouri Valley Conference. From 2000 to 2004, the Bears dominated the league, going 40-5 in those five seasons. Missouri State earned its first national ranking (No. 66) with a 17-5 record in 2000 after winning its first conference title. The Bears won the league title again in 2002, were third in 2001, and runners-up in both 2003 and 2004.
Giachino produced numerous All-Missouri Valley Conference players during his tenure at Missouri State. During his 10 years in Springfield, eight different players have earned 12 Academic All-Conference honors as well.
Giachino came to MSU from Fairfield University, where he served as women’s tennis coach from 1992-96. In four seasons at Fairfield, Giachino guided the Stags to 41 wins and four straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles, including a school-record 12 wins in 1995-96. Under his leadership, Fairfield produced two MAAC Most Valuable Players and four academic all-league selections. In addition, the team posted numerous wins over nationally-ranked opponents from NCAA Divisions I and II.
Prior to his appointment at Fairfield, Giachino served four years as the assistant coach at Yale University and spent 10 years as the head coach at Hamden Hall Country Day School, where his teams posted a 76-20 overall record, making him the school’s all-time winningest coach. The 1995 USPTA Collegiate Coach of the Year in New England, Giachino has been instrumental in organizing numerous professional and amateur tournaments.
During the past 23 years, Giachino has worked with numerous sectionally and nationally-ranked junior and collegiate players. He has also worked with players on the Women’s Tennis Association professional circuit, as well as the National Amateur circuit. Giachino coached WTA players Lynn Rosenstrach, Lee Ann Denley and Liz Barker.
Giachino earned a bachelor of science degree in English at Western Michigan University in 1970. He also earned a graduate study degree from the University of Massachusetts in 1973 before returning to WMU for a master’s degree in education in 1975. Giachino also received an advanced graduate degree from Monmouth (N.J.) College in 1978.
