Gustavus Adolphus College Men's Tennis

COACHING RESUME Gustavus Adolphus College - 2009-Present Head Men's Tennis Coach and Steve Wilkinson Endowed Professor of Sports Ethics and Tennis Gustavus Adolphus College - 2006-09 Assistant Men's Tennis Coach  Emory University - 2004-06 Assistant Women's Tennis Coach University of Nebraska - 2002-04 Assistant Women's Tennis Coach PLAYING CAREER Gustavus Adolphus College - 1998-2002 NCAA DIII Tennis EDUCATION University of Minnesota - 2014 Ph.D. Kinesiology Emory University - 2006 M.T.S. Theological Studies Gustavus Adolphus College - 2002 B.A. History and Religion HOMETOWN Duluth, Minn. Dr. Tommy Valentini is in his 16th year as head coach of the Gustavus men's tennis team in the 2024-25 academic year. Valentini, who had been an assistant coach for the Gusties from 2006 to 2009, replaced Steve Wilkinson who retired after serving as the head coach for the 39 years prior. Valentini became the 16th head coach in the 92-year history of the men's tennis program at Gustavus. He has directed the program to 13 consecutive MIAC Playoff Championships and 14 regular season titles and holds an overall record of 273-104 and an MIAC mark of 111-0. The Gusties are the third winningest program in the history of Division III tennis with an all-time mark of 1303-532-3 (.710 winning percentage). Gustavus has claimed two NCAA Team Championships (1980, 1982), while also winning six national titles in doubles and four national titles in singles. In MIAC play, Gustavus leads all programs in titles won with 55. Along with great teams, Gustavus has also been blessed with many outstanding individual players, which includes 62 players who have received All-America honors, and 144 who have received All-Conference honors. The program also has the distinction of having had five players receive the National ITA Arthur Ashe Award, which is given to one player a year that best combines tennis ability, academic accomplishment, community service and sportsmanship. That total is tied with Stanford for the most winners in all divisions of collegiate tennis. A 2002 Gustavus graduate and four-year letterwinner on the tennis team. Valentini earned his PhD from the University of Minnesota School of Kinesiology where his research focused on moral education in and through sport. Valentini is a professor in the philosophy department teaching courses in Sport Ethics and Philosophy of Sport. In 2013, Valentini was named the Steve Wilkinson Endowed Professor of Tennis and Sports Ethics. Valentini serves on the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Board of Directors. He also served as Assistant Director of Tennis and Life Camps at Gustavus where he directed the tennis program and staff training.  During his playing career at Gustavus, Valentini compiled a record of 60-7 in singles and 53-9 in doubles. In his senior year, he was the MIAC Champion at No.4 singles and helped the Gusties post an overall mark of 30-4 including the program's first ever ITA Indoor Championship, and a third place finish at the NCAA Championships. As accomplished in the classroom as he was on the tennis court, Valentini was a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American compiling a 3.9 GPA with majors in honors history and religion. He received the Arthur Ashe Award for excellence in tennis, academics and humanitarian concerns from both the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), and the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) in 2001. In 2002, Valentini was awarded the Hollingsworth Key, which is presented to the Gustavus senior male athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average. Tommy lives in Saint Peter with his wife, Bethany, and their children Enzo and Carmen.   Tommy Valentini's Year-by-Year Coaching Record Year Wins Losses Win % Postseason 2009-10 15 10 .600 1st // 1 NCAA Qualifier 2010-11 18 9 .667 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Second Round // 1 NCAA Qualifier 2011-12 22 8 .733 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Third Round // 2 NCAA Qualifiers 2012-13 23 10 .697 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Third Round // 2 NCAA Qualifiers 2013-14 29 6 .829 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Third Round 2014-15 20 11 .645 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Third Round // 3 NCAA Qualifiers 2015-16 25 8 .758 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Third Round // 2 NCAA Qualifiers 2016-17 26 9 .743 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Elite 8 // 2 NCAA Qualifiers 2017-18 24 9 .727 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Third Round // 2 NCAA Qualifiers 2018-19 20 9 .690 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Third Round // 2 NCAA Qualifiers 2019-20 9 2 .818 2020-21 17 3 .850 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Third Round // 3 NCAA Qualifiers 2021-22 25 11 .694 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Third Round // 2 NCAA Qualifiers 2022-23 26 11 .703 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Elite 8 // 2 NCAA Qualifiers 2023-24 23 8 .742 1st // MIAC Playoff Champions // NCAA Second Round // 3 NCAA Qualifiers 15 Seasons 322 124 .722 14 MIAC Titles

COACHING RESUME Gustavus Adolphus College - 2019-Present Assistant Women's Tennis Coach Tennis and Life Camps - 2018-Present Assistant Director St. Catherine University - 2016-19 Assistant Women's Tennis Coach Tennis and Life Camps - 2014-18 TLC Instructor PLAYING CAREER St. Catherine University - 2012-16 NCAA DIII Tennis EDUCATION University of Minnesota - 2019 M.S. Kinesiology St. Catherine University - 2016 B.A. Psychology HOMETOWN Brainerd, Minn. Kinzee Salo is in her fifth year with the Gustavus men's tennis coaching staff as an assistant in the 2024-25 academic year.  Salo joined the Gusites as a volunteer assistant in the 2019-20 academic year. Salo has helped coach one of the greatest men's tennis programs in Division III history. She has played a part in directing the Gusties to the past four MIAC regular season and playoff championships. Last season, Salo helped the Gusties achieve a 23-8 overall record while reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament. She also coached All-American doubles players Gage Gohl, Tyler Haddorff, Marco Siviero, and Josh Christensen, while Gohl also earned All-America singles accolades.  Prior to coming to Gustavus, Salo, a 2016 graduate of St. Catherine University, got her start in coaching at her alma mater, assisting the women's tennis team from 2016-19. She has served as an assistant director for Tennis and Life Camps since 2019, and was a TLC instructor from 2014-18.  As a player at SCU, Salo was MIAC All-Conference in both singles and doubles from 2013-16. She graduated as the winningest doubles player in school history with a 61-12 record, and was a member of the 2013 MIAC Championship team, the only title in program history.  Salo was a three-time Academic All-MIAC selection, a member of the MIAC All-Sportsmanship team, and a two-time winner of the team's Jeanne Arth Award, presented to an exemplary student-athlete who represents the program in a positive light. She ranks fourth in program career singles wins (51-23), and was awarded the Sheila Brown Wildcat Award, which recognizes student-athletes who demonstrate consistent contributions to the athletic department through athleticism, scholarship, dedication, sportsmanship and leadership. She graduated with honors in psychology in 2016. Salo earned her masters in Kinesiology with an emphasis in sport sociology from the University of Minnesota in 2019, where her research focused on narratives pertaining to female coaches. During her time at the University of Minnesota, she was a graduate student with the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport which is the first interdisciplinary research center of its kind in the world, solely dedicated to the examining how sport and physical activity affect the lives of girls and women, their families, and communities.  Salo currently resides in Saint Peter.