Head Coach Debbie Southern

In her 17th year as head coach, Debbie Southern will again field a squad capable of winning its fourth straight Southern Conference Title and advancing to a third consecutive NCAA Tournament. During her tenure at Furman, Southern has led her squads to nine Southern Conference titles and an .894 Southern Conference winning percentage (93-11) with a .563 overall winning percentage (213-165), while notching victories over some very tough competition, including a 5-2 win over Illinois State, a 6-1 decision over Ball State, an 8-1 victory over North Carolina State, and a 6-3 win over Boise State.In addition, the Lady Paladins dropped a 5-4 loss to 28th-ranked Georgia Tech and lost another close one, 3-6, to No. 36 New Mexico State.

In addition to tough competition, Southern emphasizes the importance of overall physical fitness and leads her players in a stringent off-season conditioning program that includes both aerobic and anaerobic workouts.

Her coaching philosophy and practice of recruiting top student-athletes has paid off in the form of 59 Southern Conference singles and doubles championships, 57 conference academic honor roll citations, and a national sportsmanship award for former Lady Paladin Kathryn Jarvis.

Widely recognized for her administrative skills in addition to her coaching and recruiting prowess, Southern served in July of 1995 as assistant to the director of tennis at the U.S. Olympic Festival in Colorado Springs. She is currently a member of the NCAA Women's Tennis Committee, and chair of the NCAA Southeast Regional Committee. As a member of the national committee, Southern helps pick the 64-team NCAA Tournament field, as well as selecting individuals for the NCAA singles and doubles championships.

In 1993, the Southern Tennis Association (STA) selected Southern as coach of the girls' 18 intersectional team, which faced the other U.S. regions at the USTA Girls 18-under Intersectional Championships in Fairfield, California. During the summers of 1997-99, she coached the boys and girls Under 16 zonal teams in Winston-Salem, N.C. She has served as chair of the Southern Conference women¹s tennis committee since 1998 and previously from 1987-1994.

In 2000, Southern became the first person to twice earn South Carolina Tennis Association Coach of the Year. She was so named in 1991 and again in 2000. She was also Southern Conference Coach-of-the-Year in 1985, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1998, and 2000, and was honored as the recipient of the Furman University J. Lyles Alley Coach-of-the-Year Award in 1998. The award is presented annually to the top coach in the Furman athletic department.

She is a member of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), and serves on the ITA Board of Directors, a position she was awarded in 1997. Southern also serves as chair of the Skin Cancer Awareness Committee and Chair of the ITA Rolex National Championships in Dallas, Texas.

In honor of Southern's service to the Furman University tennis program, court one of the new Minor Mickel Tennis Center has been dedicated in Southern's name. Donations were made in Southern's honor by friends, alumni, and former players.

A 1981 graduate of the University of Tennessee with a degree in secondary physical education, Southern enjoyed a fine playing career for the Lady Volunteer tennis program, winning the Tennessee state doubles title in 1978.

Upon graduation, she earned her Master of Education degree from Austin Peay, where she later returned to begin her head coaching career.

In May of 1994, Southern completed her Master of Business Administration degree at Clemson.

While at Furman, Southern has developed the Lady Paladin Tennis Club as a means of raising money for the Furman women's tennis program.

A native of Winston-Salem, N.C., Southern is single and enjoys sea kayaking, swimming, snowskiing, cycling, hiking, rollerblading, and a variety of other sports in addition to tennis.