RICHMOND, Va. – Rifa Kahfiani has been named interim head coach of the VCU Women's Tennis program, VCU Vice President and Director of Athletics Ed McLaughlin announced Monday.
 
"I want to extend my deepest gratitude to our Athletic Director, Ed McLaughlin, Deputy ADs Sofia Hiort-Wright and Mak Afework, and the entire search committee for entrusting me with this incredible opportunity," Kahfiani said. "The legacy of VCU Women's Tennis is both competitive and inspiring, and I'm excited to step into this leadership role. The strong relationships I have with our players and support staff are the foundation of our success, and I'm eager to build on that to achieve even greater things. I'm committed to excellence both on the court and in the classroom, and I'm fired up to push this team forward while continuing to uphold the excellence that defines VCU Women's Tennis. Go Rams!"
 
Kahfiani was elevated following a spring season in which she helped the Rams to a 14-9 mark and a slew of All-Atlantic 10 Conference honors as assistant coach. A former ITA pro, Kahfiani's guidance was critical to the development of 2024 A-10 Co-Rookie of the Year Tiziana Rossini. Under her watch a total of five players garnered All-Atlantic 10 honors in 2024, including a pair of first team selections. 

Kahfiani originally joined the Rams in 2023, following a stint as the interim head coach at Ball State, as well as an academy coach in her home country of Indonesia, where she worked with more than 20 high performance players.

As a junior professional player, she competed at Wimbledon and the Australian Open and on the Junior Fed Cup Team in 2011, 2012, and 2014. In 2019, Kahfiani represented Indonesia at the SouthEast Asian Games. At one point, she was ranked No. 392 in the ITF singles pro ranking and No. 1078 in the ITF Doubles ranking, as well as No. 90 in the ITF Junior Rankings.

While earning her undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Sports Marketing at Oregon, Kahfiani helped the Ducks achieve their highest team ranking in program history (No. 17), and was ranked No. 56 in ITA doubles in 2019.
 
Following her playing career, Kahfiani spent time as a volunteer assistant coach at Notre Dame in 2021-22. She later joined the staff at Ball State and helped the team win the MAC Conference Tournament Championship, qualify for the NCAA Tournament and achieve the highest team ranking in the Ball State history No. 74.