Sandra Stap Clifton (born May 1, 1956) is an American former professional

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

coach and player. Stap grew up in

Deerfield, Illinois Deerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, Lake and Cook County, Illinois, Cook counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A northern Chicago metropolitan area, suburb of Chicago, Deerfield is located on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore, ...

, and was coached by her father, Jake, an ex-baseball player who invented the tennis ball hopper. Her elder sister,

Sue Stap Susan Stap Kust (born June 3, 1954) is an American former professional tennis player. A native of Deerfield, Illinois, Stap was ranked as high as 34 in the world while competing on the professional tour during the 1970s. She and her sister Sandy ...

, also played professional

. An

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

(16s) winner in 1970, Stap spent the next decade on tour and also played varsity tennis for Trinity University, where she was a three-time All-American. She won a gold medal in women's doubles gold at the

1975 Pan American Games The 1975 Pan American Games, officially known as the VII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Mexico 1975 (), were held in Mexico City, Mexico, from October 12 to October 26, 1975, exactly twenty years after the second Pan American Games ...

in Mexico City, partnering her Trinity teammate Stephanie Tolleson. From 1980 to 1989, she was the women's head coach for

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, which included four successive undefeated Big Ten seasons and fifth-place finishes in the NCAA Championships in 1986 and 1987.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stap, Sandy 1956 births Living people American female tennis players Trinity Tigers women's tennis players Northwestern Wildcats coaches Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in tennis Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Tennis players at the 1975 Pan American Games Tennis players from Chicago Sportspeople from Deerfield, Illinois Tennis coaches from Illinois College tennis coaches in the United States 20th-century American sportswomen