CLARKSVILLE – Austin Peay State University head women's tennis coach Ross Brown is excited the welcome a pair of incoming freshmen in Lucy Lascheck and Sophia Baranov for the 2022-23 academic year.

Hailing from Kaiserslautern, Germany, Lascheck attends Heinrich-Heine-Gymnasium and is coached by Neil Prickett. In 2019, Lascheck placed second at the Youth Olympics Training and is currently ranked 34th in the U18 German Ranking and 171 in the Women's German Ranking.

"What caught our attention with Lucy was her rapid improvement in her women's open ranking in Germany," said Coach Brown. "She is well coached, has multiple weapons and a game that can still improve. Lucy is accustomed to hard work and striving to improve."

She will join a Governors roster that features a pair of fellow German-born players in redshirt sophomore Jana Leder and freshman Denise Torrealba. 

Baranov is from Almaty, Kazakhstan and is the first Kazakh-born player in program history. She prepped at Capital Whale and reached a career-high International Tennis Federation Junior Ranking of 445 in January 2021.

"Sofia brings a wealth of experience playing international junior and women's open singles and doubles events, where she has had success," Brown said. "She has been well coached and has potential to continue to improve and excel as well.  Sofia is certainly accustomed to hard work and training and has a passion for tennis."

Lascheck and Baranov are Brown's first singings ahead of the 2022-23 season and will be a part of the Governors' inaugural season as a member of the ASUN Conference.

"Maria and I are extremely excited about signing Sofia and Lucy," Brown said. "Both of these young women are very athletic and have the potential to help us in doubles too.  I believe Sofia and Lucy will embrace the 'Total Gov Concept' fit into our culture and help continue to build our success."