Antoaneta 'Toni' Bickford was named the new Director of Men's & Women's Tennis at Virginia Wesleyan University in September 2021. Prior to joining the VWU Athletics staff, Bickford was the Head Women's Tennis Coach at the College of William and Mary.
For the 2024-25 season, t
he Women's Tennis team registered a 10-9 record to secure the #4 Seed of the ODAC Championship Tournament and made it to the Semifinals of the tournament for the first time since Spring 2021. The Men's Tennis team finished the season as the #5 Seed in the ODAC Championship Tournament. The team was also ranked as high as No. 67 in the country for the second time in program history.
In the 2023-24 season, Bickford had great success as the Men's Tennis team was 16-7 overall and 8-1 in the conference to clinch the No. 2 seed in the ODAC Championship tournament hosted by Virginia Wesleyan University. The Men's team was also Nationally ranked for the first time in program history on April 3rd by the ITA Division III Rankings. Ranked No. 44 in the Nation the team stayed in the top 50 climbing as high as No. 41 in the Nation on April 24th. The Men's team had three members named to the All-Conference and Ole Behrmann was named to the ODAC Rookie of the Year by the ODAC. The women's tennis team was 8-12 and 4-4 in the ODAC to secure the No. 7 seed in the ODAC Championship tournament.
In 2023, Bickford guided the Men's Tennis team to a No. 4 seed in the ODAC Championship Tournament beating No. 5 Seed Lynchburg 5-1, before falling to the eventual winners Washington & Lee and had one All-Conference selection. On the Women's side the Women's Tennis team was the No. 8 seed in the ODAC Championship Tournament and fell to the No. 1 seed Washington & Lee 5-0.
In her first season at the helm of the Marlins men's and women's tennis teams, she helped lead the teams to the postseason with the men advancing to the finals against Washington & Lee and the women advancing to the quarterfinals against Lynchburg. Bickford coached five men's players to ODAC post-season accolades including Mitchell Perry who garnered first-team accolades in both singles and doubles action.
A native of Plovdiv, Bulgaria native, Bickford comes to Virginia Wesleyan with a plethora of tennis knowledge having played at the NCAA Division I level while also having coached at the Division I level for 18 years. Since 2018, Toni has been the Head Coach for the College of William & Mary women's tennis team. She helped coach the Tribe to an ITA Atlantic Regional rank of seventh at the end of 2021, a year that challenged traditional norms for college athletics due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While leading W&M, Toni was responsible for managing all daily program activities, including managing the budget, game day events, facility supervision, recruiting, fundraising, and cultivating alumni relationships. Toni directed the Tribe to two Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship Finals in 2019 and 2021, all while coaching seven players to All-Conference honors including a pair of CAA Freshmen of the Year honorees in 2019 and 2021. Additionally, William & Mary's women's tennis team earned three ITA Scholar Team Awards and boasted 19 individual ITA Scholar Athletes during Bickford's tenure.
Prior to joining the William & Mary Tennis coaching staff, Toni was the Old Dominion University Women's Tennis Associate Head Coach from 2011-2018. Her guidance helped the squad to three Division I national rankings in 2015, 2016, and 2018. Over that span, she assisted in coaching 24 All-Conference honorees including two C-USA Freshmen of the Year in 2015 and 2017. Toni was named the ITA Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2018.
Toni attended the University of Iowa where she was a four year starter for the Hawkeyes. While at Iowa, Toni was a four-time Big Ten All-Conference honoree from 1999-2002 and was named the 1999 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. She qualified for the Division I NCAA tournament individually in doubles in 1999 and 2000, and went to the NCAA for singles in 2002. In 1999, Toni's team reached the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and ended the year with a Top-25 ranking. Toni was inducted into the University of Iowa Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017 for her success as a Hawkeye student-athlete.
Prior to coming to the states for college, Toni was excelling on the national level in her home country of Bulgaria. She garnered 12 Junior Bulgarian National Titles in both singles and doubles between 1990 and 1997, and was on the Bulgarian Fed Cup Team in 1998. Toni held a world ranking of 650 in the Professional Women Tennis Association in January 1998.
