Scott Petersen is beginning his seventh season on The Hilltop after taking over the Bradley women's tennis program at the start of the 2004-05 season.
Petersen had an immediate impact upon arriving at Bradley, guiding the Braves to a 4-3 win over Evansville during the 2004-05 season for the squad's first regular season victory against the Purple Aces since 1997.
In 2005-06, Petersen led the Braves to their first main-draw MVC Tournament win since 1994 and captured MVC regular season wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1996 and 1997. Senior Ashley Morris capped her stellar career tied for the school's all-time combined wins record with 105. Morris joined Montrose to tie the single-season doubles victory record with 20.
During Petersen's third season, Teri Chan equaled her own school record of 19 single-season singles wins for the third time along with breaking the all-time combined wins record with 116. Chan set the all-time singles wins record with 73 during her senior campaign and finished seventh on the all-time doubles wins list with 43. Elise Montrose ended her career finishing fifth in combined wins with 98, 10th in all-time singles wins with 45, and second in all-time career doubles wins with 53.
In 2007-08, Petersen continued to guide the Braves back on track with their second main-draw Missouri Valley Conference Tournament win in three seasons and an MVC regular season win.
The 2009-10 season saw Emily Regenold break the school record for doubles victories.
Heading into the 2010-11 season, senior Nicole Miller is poised to climb the career charts, needing 15 singles wins to move into BU's career top 10. Miller is just 12 doubles victories short of surpassing Regenold's school-record of 56 wins. In addition, Miller enters her final year with 85 career combined wins and is 32 victories from breaking Chan's school record.
Success in the classroom has also been a staple for the women's tennis team during Petersen's tenure. Bradley has produced two First-Team MVC Scholar-Athletes during his time on The Hilltop and Kim Braun was a two-time ESPN Academic All-District selection.
Currently, Petersen is on the Board of the United States Tennis Association "Futures of Peoria" pro circuit tournament, Chairman of the USTA College Advocacy Committee and was a member of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regional Committee. During the offseason, Petersen is a Director of Tennis at the Country Club of Peoria and was a site director of the USTA Midwest Marian Bard Cup in Muncie, Ind.
A graduate of the University of Idaho with a Masters in Sport & Recreation Management, Petersen was an assistant coach with both the men's and women's tennis programs at Western Michigan for the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons. Both programs were nationally ranked during his tenure in Kalamazoo, Mich., with the women's team ranked as high as 56th after winning the 2000-01 Mid-American Conference regular-season title. The men's team claimed the 2000-01 MAC Tournament title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
After his two-year stint in Kalamazoo, Petersen served as an assistant teaching professional at the West Hills Racquet and Fitness Club in Portland, Ore. During this time he taught group and private lessons, along with website development, junior programming, tournaments and junior traveling teams.
