SAN FRANCISCO – USF's first-year head volleyball coach Vicki Brown has accepted a position as the associate head coach at the University of Iowa, effective Thursday.
 
Brown leaves USF after one indoor season in which the Dons finished 4-27, but saw outside hitter Tyna Adamcikova earn West Coast Conference All-Freshman honors.
 
"I want to thank Scott Sidwell, as well as Joan McDermott, for giving me my first collegiate head coaching job and supporting me during my time here," Brown said. "I would like to thank the student-athletes that have competed for me. Finally, a big thank you to my staff, Daryl Kapis and Simone Ortega."
 
Brown joined the USF staff in the spring of 2016 as an assistant before being appointed as the 10^th head coach in the program's history shortly thereafter. Brown inherited a roster featuring just three returnees from last year's squad.
 
The move will bring Brown back to the Big Ten, where she was a two-time All-Big Ten performer at Illinois before graduating in 2008 with her degree in communications.
 
"We are very fortunate to have had Vicki be a part of the USF athletic family," said USF director of athletics Scott Sidwell. "She guided us through a difficult transition in our volleyball program and did so with great resolve to set the foundation for future success to compete at the upper tier of a very tough volleyball conference. We wish her well in her return to the Big Ten conference. We will find a great leader to carry forward our vision for USF volleyball, which is to be a perennial NCAA tournament team." 
 
Brown, a native of Toledo, Ohio, embarked on her coaching career after playing professionally overseas and in Puerto Rico. She served as a volunteer assistant at Toledo before spending two seasons as an assistant at Illinois State, where she oversaw defensive strategy, scouting and recruiting and worked directly with the middle blockers, helping the Redbirds finish the season as one of the Missouri Valley Conference's top defensive units in 2013.
 
Prior to arriving on the Hilltop, Brown served two seasons as an assistant at UC Davis.  
 
Brown will join an Iowa program that went 19-13 last season and 9-11 in conference play, finishing ninth in the Big Ten. Head coach Bond Shymansky is currently completing his third season leading the Hawkeyes.
 
The remainder of USF's beach season, which includes a match at Santa Clara on Apr. 12, the Sacramento State Invitational and the WCC Championships, will be led by co-head beach coach Simone Ortega.
 
A search for Brown's replacement will commence immediately.