Bio

Born in Minnesota, Alicia Brown moved to Southern California at a young age. She quickly cashed in on the region’s weather, taking to tennis, basketball and soccer. Ironically, she focused on soccer, which resulted in a rigorous schedule of year-round soccer, leaving little time for United States Tennis Association Junior (USTA Jr.) events. It wasn’t until high school when tennis began to become Brown’s focus, taking private tennis lessons with Roger Auld, the summer leading into her freshman year.

She made an immediate impact, playing four years of varsity tennis at Corona High School. She earned all-league honors all four years, and twice was selected as the Mountain View League MVP. While at Corona, Brown would also star in basketball and track and field. 

Un-recruited out of high school, Brown attempted to walk-on at UC Riverside for the basketball and tennis teams. However, a knee injury forced Brown to the sidelines. Faced with ACL surgery, she left UCR and enrolled at Riverside Community College. Looking to get back into shape she enrolled in a Nikki Bonzoumet tennis course. 

It took Bonzoumet little time to realize Brown’s talent. And even less time for Brown’s impact to be felt in the program. 

Her freshman year, Brown became the Tigers’ No. 1 singles player and teamed with Kasia Jankowski to form the program’s No. 1 doubles team. Brown went on to earn the state’s No. 3 ranking her freshman year. She concluded her RCC career by being named the Orange Empire Conference MVP twice and earning All-American status each year. She also reached the finals of the prestigious Ojai Valley tournament, where she finished second in 2002.

After RCC, Brown accepted a scholarship to California State University, San Bernardino where she completed two bachelor degrees in English. She excelled in academics as well as tennis becoming the No. 1 ranked female tennis player at CSUSB.   

She would return to RCC in 2007 as an assistant coach to the tennis program, while working on her master’s degree at California Baptist University in Kinesiology. She also attended Ben Clark Training Center, earning a certificate as an Emergency Medical Technician. Today, Brown is employed at American Medical Response as an EMT and is taking courses to advance her career in the medical field.