Maria Sorbello Morrison enters her 11th season at Austin Peay, and first as the head women’s tennis coach, after being named the 15th head coach in program history, June 28, 2022.
Sorbello Morrison joined Ross Brown’s staff as an assistant coach prior to the 2012-13 season and held the title until being promoted to associate head coach, Nov. 11, 2019.
With the help of Sorbello Morrison’s leadership, Austin Peay tennis won five Ohio Valley Conference Championships and had 43 All-OVC selections, with 23 being First Team All-OVC recipients.
The Governors also had three OVC Players of the Year and Freshman of the Year recipients in Sorbello Morrison’s decade in Clarksville.
Sorbello Morrison has preached academic success since arriving to Clarksville. Both Austin Peay tennis programs posted their 18th-straight semester with at least a GPA of 3.0 in spring 2022, while the semester also marked the women’s tennis program’s 15th-straight semester with a 3.5 GPA or better.
In addition to athletic and academic success, the Governors have regularly assisted the Austin Peay and Clarksville community with their community service. This past season marked the first time in program history that both the men’s and women’s tennis teams have each received the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Community Service Award for the Ohio Valley Region. The women have received the award in four of the last five years and were honorable mentions for the honor in 2020. The men’s tennis team won the award for the first time in 2022 after being honorable mentions in 2020 and 2021.
In 2021-22, Sorbello Morrison helped lead the women’s tennis team to its fifth OVC Regular Season Championship in program history and fourth-straight appearance in the OVC Tournament Championship match. The Governors also had four all-conference selections with freshman Denise Torrealba and redshirt sophomore Jana Leder being tabbed as First Team All-OVC recipients, senior Danielle Morris a Second Team All-OVC selection and Torrealba and senior Honoka Nakanishi named to the All-OVC Doubles Team. On the men’s side, Sorbello Morrison helped Frederic Schlossmann earn First Team All-OVC honors as a sophomore, while he and Anton Damberg were named to the All-OVC Doubles Team. Schlossmann was also named to the2021-22 CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District® Men's At-Large Team.
After having her first season as associate head coach cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sorbello Morrison helped the Govs to a second-straight OVC Championship in 2021. Under her guidance, Jana Leder was named the OVC Freshman of the Year and took home First Team All-OVC honors, while Fabienne Schmidt and Danielle Morris received Second Team All-OVC recognition. Schlossmann was also named a Second Team All-OVC recipient during his freshman campaign.
In 2018-19, Sorbello Morrison helped guide the women’s team to the best season in program history, ultimately claiming an undefeated regular season and a conference tournament title. In the regular season, the women’s team posted a perfect 22-0 mark that included 15 sweeps and an OVC Women’s Regular-Season Championship. In the OVC tournament, the Governors swept Southeast Missouri and UT Martin en route to a OVC Tournament Championship and the program’s second trip to the NCAA Tournament.
During their four years in Clarksville, Sorbello Morrison helped twin sisters Claudia and Lidia Yanes Garcia become two of the most decorated tennis players in conference and program history. Claudia earned First-Team All-OVC honors three times; Lidia was named the OVC Freshman of the Year (2015-16), OVC Player of the Year three times (2015-16, 2016-17, and 2017-18), and was a First-Team All-OVC selection all four years. Lidia was only the second player in program history to receive All-OVC First-Team honors four times and the only player in conference history to be named both the OVC Freshman and Player of the Year in the same season.
In her first season at Austin Peay, Sorbello Morrison helped coach the men's team to an Ohio Valley Conference title, taking them to play in their first-ever NCAA Tournament to face 10th-ranked Mississippi State in the first round. Sean Bailey, Jasmin Ademovic, and Dimitar Ristovski all earned First-Team All-OVC recognition.
Sorbello Morrison helped lead the men's team back to the OVC Tournament the following two seasons, reaching the semifinals and finals, respectively. Under her help, Jasmin Ademovic and Dimitar Ristovksi received First-Team All-OVC awards and Aleksas Tverijonas was named Second-Team All-OVC in 2014. In 2015, the men fell just short in the final but seniors Dimitar Ristovski and Aleksas Tverijonas were named First-Team All-OVC and won their singles matches in the championship match.
Sorbello Morrison graduated from Tennessee in 2011 with a degree in communications. She was a four-year member of the Lady Vols tennis team which included an Elite 8 appearance in 2010. She was named as the 2010 Player to Watch in the Ohio Valley Region. She was an All-SEC second-team selection in 2010 and 2011, ranking 13th in the final 2010 ITA doubles poll and reaching as high as 38th in the ITA singles rankings. She was an All-SEC Tournament performer in 2010 and 2011. She and Brynn Boren captured the Ohio Valley Regional doubles championship in 2010.
Sorbello Morrison is 16th all-time in career doubles victories at Tennessee and is tied for 13th all-time in doubles wins in a season with 31 in both 2009 and 2010.
A native of Mackay, Australia, Sorbello Morrison won the Australian School Girls Singles Championship three years in a row (2004-06), the only person to win the championship three straight times.
Sorbello Morrison previously coached at Fancutts Tennis Academy in Brisbane, Australia and volunteered at the Knoxville Racquet Club while a member of the Lady Vols.
Sorbello Morrison and her husband, Seth, have two children, Archie and Zara.
