Nicole Briceño began her fourth year as Academy of Art University head women's tennis coach in September 2023 after a three-year stint leading the program from 2014 to 2017.
In her first season back at the helm for Academy of Art women’s tennis for the 2024 season, Briceño led the squad to their first Pacific West Conference title in program history. Briceño finished the regular season off with a 10-5 record before going 6-1 in the postseason, finishing 16-6 overall. After receiving the conference title, Briceño then coached her team over #46 Concordia at the NCAA Division II West Regional on
May 10 before defeating #29 UIndy in the first round of the NCAA Division II National Championship on
May 20. With an outstanding season came a plethora of awards for her players with Amelija Supulniece coming away with a
ITA All-American and
PacWest Freshman of the Year honor while Jessica Plazas was named the
ITA West Region Player To Watch, all while the team received
four All-PacWest team awards, a
PacWest Tournament MVP honor, and added on
nine academic awards.
Staying sharp as a self-employed professional tennis coach now for more than 20 years, Briceño handled all aspects of the ART U women's tennis program for three seasons from 2014 to 2017. Her third campaign featured an impressive array of accomplishments including a No. 9 national ranking, the program's
third appearance at the NCAA Regionals, and three
All-PacWest awards. En route to a 17-5 overall record, Academy of Art defeated several ranked opponents including No. 22 Sonoma State, No. 17 Cameron, No. 9 St. Mary’s, No. 24 Point Loma, No. 29 Cal State Los Angeles, No. 34 Concordia, and No. 21 Azusa Pacific, but ended up falling to Hawaii Pacific in the Pacific West Conference Tournament (ART U finished third) and again at NCAA Division II Regionals. The team added six more
Academic All-PacWest honors.
The second year of Briceño's Academy of Art career saw the Urban Knights go 11-11 overall. Highlights included victories over ranked teams such as No. 31 Point Loma, No. 39 Palm Beach Atlantic, and eventually No. 14 Azusa Pacific in the PacWest Conference Tournament where ART U would finish fifth overall. The team had six Knights take home
Academic All-PacWest awards, one
ITA Scholar-Athlete honor, and three
All-PacWest Team selections (one doubles pair, one singles).
In her first season at the helm, Briceño guided the program to a 13-6 record and its first PacWest Championship match which led to their highest ever regional ranking. Their second place ranking allowed the team to
host the opening round of the NCAA Tournament (another first for the program). Five student-athletes also earned
All-PacWest honors under her watch in 2015 and the team earned three awards at the
second annual ARTYs: Highest Team GPA, Best Moment (
defeating HPU at the PacWest Tournament) and Team of the Year. The squad’s academic successes was also recognized as seven Knights earned
Academic All-PacWest accolades.
With Saint Mary’s College prior to ART U, Briceño was a volunteer assistant for a Gaels squad that achieved a Top 34 NCAA Division I ranking. She helped guide SMC to a West Coast Conference final in addition to obtaining three individual ITA rankings. With the University of Maryland, Briceño was heavily involved with recruiting as well as player development, mentoring and coaching the Terrapins squad both on and off the court.
Prior to Maryland, Briceño served as an assistant at Albany for one season. She helped guide the Great Danes to their first conference final appearance in school history and had a hand in the school's first-ever wins over UMBC and Binghamton.
As a collegian herself, Briceño played for Southern Methodist and Alabama. An important leader on her SMU squad, she led the Mustangs to a national ranking of No. 21, highest in program history, and to the Conference USA Championship. She set the record for most doubles wins ever at SMU, achieving a 21-1 season record. Briceño and partner Ksenia Tokarieva achieved a career high doubles national ranking of No. 38. During her time at SMU, she earned multiple Conference USA Player of the Week awards and was named the Conference USA Newcomer of the Year in 2008.
An outstanding student, Briceño graduated from SMU in 2010 with a 3.6 GPA majoring in psychology and Spanish. She received the SMU Minority Academic Excellence Award three straight years and was named to the Conference USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. At Alabama, Briceño was named to the Dean's List and the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll. While at SMU, she also served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Head Coach, ART U
2014-2017, 2023 - present
| Year |
Overall (Pct.) |
PacWest Finish |
| 2024 |
16-6 (.727) |
1st |
| 2017 |
17-5 (.773) |
3rd |
| 2016 |
11-11 (.500) |
5th |
| 2015 |
13-6 (.684) |
2nd |
| Totals |
57-28 (.671) |
|
