Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University (APSU) Athletics Director Gerald Harrison is excited to announce that head men’s and women’s tennis coach Ross Brown has agreed to a contract extension through the 2023 season.
“I am excited that Coach Brown has agreed to remain at Austin Peay,” said Harrison. “During his time in Clarksville, he and Associate Head Coach Maria Sorbello Morrison have built what is without question the premier women’s tennis program in the Ohio Valley Conference. Ross and his teams support and demonstrate the tenants of the Total Gov concept and that is why it was important to me that he remains in Stacheville for years to come.”
Coming off his second-straight OVC Women’s Tennis Tournament Championship, Brown has now captured three conference titles between the men’s and women’s tennis programs during his nine years at Austin Peay State University.
Brown led the men’s program to its first OVC tournament title in 39 years when the APSU Govs won the 2013 championship; he then ended a nine-year title drought for the women’s program when they went a perfect 22-0 to claim the 2019 OVC regular-season and tournament crowns. The women’s team then successfully defended its title when it beat top-seeded Southeast Missouri in the 2021 OVC Tournament title match.
Under Brown’s tutelage, the men’s tennis program has had 10 student-athletes earn First Team All-OVC recognition, with seven more earning Second-Team honors. On the women’s side, nine Govs have earned First Team All-OVC selections, with nine more picking up Second Team All-OVC honors.
The women’s tennis program has also produced a trio of OVC Freshmen of the Year – Lidia Yanes Garcia (2016), Fabienne Schmidt (2018), and Jana Leder (2021) – and a three-time OVC Player of the Year – Lidia Yanes Garcia (2016, 17, and 18) – during Brown’s tenure.
All of Brown’s success in Clarksville led to him being named the OVC Men’s Tennis Coach of the Year in 2015 and the OVC Women’s Coach of the Year in 2019.
The Governors tennis programs have excelled off the court as well since Brown took control of the program in 2012, with two men – Sean Bailey (2012-13) and Aleksas Tverijonas (2013-14) – and two women – Lidia Yanes Garcia (2018-19) and Schmidt (2019-20) – earning the prestigious OVC Scholar-Athlete award.
Currently, the men’s and women’s tennis programs have both posted 16-consecutive semesters with a team of at least 3.00.
Brown’s Governors have also demonstrated the “Total Gov concept” through their work in the Clarksville community, with the women’s team earning the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Ohio Valley Region Community Service Award three times and the men’s program earning regional Community Service Award Honorable Mention twice.
