USF Athletic Hall of Fame
Women’s Tennis (player, 1970-72); Women's Tennis Head Coach (1980-2002)
USF graduate Sherry Bedingfield started as a standout player for the women’s tennis program from 1970-72 before leading the program to 10 conference championships and 348 wins as head coach from 1980-2002.
Under Bedingfield’s guidance, USF captured 10 conference championships – four in the Sun Belt, four Metro championships and two Conference USA titles - to go along with six second-place finishes. Bedingfield was named conference coach of the year six times with the Bulls.
Bedingfield’s 348 career coaching wins accounted for more than 64 percent of the total wins in USF women's tennis history by the time she was inducted into the USF Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010. Her 1984 squad set the Bulls' highest win total for a single season, a record that still stands.
In 1985, Bedingfield's Bulls capped off a 24-10 season with their second consecutive Sun Belt Championship and their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance, the first of five that would come during Bedingfield's reign.
Four Bulls earned All-America honors and more than 50 of players were all-conference selections in Bedingfield’s 23 seasons as head coach of the program.
Bedingfield was inducted into the USF Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010, the first coach to earn the honor individually.
