MURFREESBORO – Chowan College Director of Athletics Jim Tribbett announced today the hiring of Chowan alum and former tennis program standout Brian Surface.

Surface will help revive the men’s tennis program, which was eliminated from the athletic department in the fall of 2002. The last season of competition for the men’s program was Spring 2002.

&uot;I am happy to welcome back Brian as an alum and former student-athlete. He understands Chowan College and what it’s going to take to rebuild the men’s tennis program here,&uot; Tribbett stated. &uot;I am confident that he will have success in this program using his past coaching experiences.&uot;

Surface is no stranger to Chowan College and collegiate athletics.

After playing four seasons as one the programs top seeds and graduating from Chowan with a BS in Sport Science, Surface accepted a graduate assistantship for the men’s and women’s tennis programs at North West Missouri State University.

At NWMS, he helped the men’s program to a NCAA Tournament appearance and the women to two consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

In 2000, Surface graduated with a MS in Education with an emphasis in Health and Physical Education from NWMS.

Afterwards he was hired at Texas Lutheran as the Head Men’s and Women’s Tennis Coach. He spent two seasons with the programs rebuilding them to competition status.

In October of 2001 Surface was hired by Austin Peay State University as the Head Men’s tennis coach and Assistant Director of the APSU Indoor Tennis Center.

After two years in that position Surface was promoted to the Director of the APSU Indoor Tennis Center while also taking over the women’s tennis program. While coaching at APSU, Surface was able to revamp both the men and women’s programs. After several years of finishing in last place in the conference, Surface recruited and coached several nationally ranked singles players.

In June of 2004 Surface was hired as the Assistant Director of Tennis at the Mount Vernon Health and Racquet Club in Alexandria, Virginia. He served in that capacity until he was hired at Chowan College.

In addition to his head coaching duties, Surface will also serve as the Director of the Braves Club. He will help to head up fund raising opportunities for the athletic department in this position.

&uot;As a former player at Chowan, I am obviously looking forward to the challenge of revamping the men’s tennis program there. I am excited about the opportunity to create a competitive team with hopes of it becoming a successful program in the near future,&uot; stated newly hired Surface. &uot;The Braves Club position is also something that I look forward to. Being a local to the area, working with the community is going to be enjoyable and exciting.&uot;