JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Former Carson-Newman men's tennis player and volunteer assistant coach David Blank has been tabbed as the program's interim head coach, C-N Vice President for Athletics Matthew Pope announced Friday.
Blank takes over on an interim basis following Jim Frederick's retirement.
"I am pleased that David Blank will follow in Jim Frederick's footsteps as our Interim Head Men and Women's Tennis Coach," Pope said. "David has played an integral part in our recruiting and competitive successes, and we are excited to see him take our Eagles to new heights."
Blank has served the program as a volunteer assistant since 2017. He has helped the Eagles' ascendency back to national prominence.
On the women's side, The Eagles wrapped up the year ranked 22nd in the team rankings, while Ana Carla Resende snagged a top 25 ranking in singles play, while Resende and doubles partner Summer Reeves were the 42nd-ranked doubles pairing nationally.
The Orange and Blue have spent the better part of two years featured in the top 50 of the ITA rankings. C-N rose as high as 15th in this year's national rankings.
Along the way, Carson-Newman picked up wins over No. 12 Tennessee Wesleyan, No. 26 Lincoln Memorial, No. 13 Lenoir-Rhyne, No. 12 Queens and No. 52 Anderson en route to finishing the season 17-5 and 10-2 in South Atlantic Conference play.
On the men's side, The Eagles checked in 38th to end the year. Carson-Newman found itself in the national rankings this spring for the first time in more than a decade.
C-N finished the year 14-8 with an 8-4 mark in South Atlantic Conference play. The Eagles defended the banks of Mossy Creek well, collecting a 6-1 record inside the Buddy Catlett Tennis Complex.
"I'm so excited for this opportunity," Blank said. "Becoming the head coach at Carson-Newman has aways been a dream of mine. I can't wait to get started with the kids and I'm ever so grateful for the chance to continue the successes built by our program."
The Orange and Blue picked up two wins over nationally-ranked opposition, prevailing 7-0 over No. 47 Lincoln Memorial and 4-3 over No. 38 Wingate for their first win over the Bulldogs in more than 15 years.
Freshman Marnix Van Dalen finished the year ranked 54th in the ITA singles rankings.
Blank finished his playing days for the Orange and Blue in 2004 wrapping up his career with an NCAA tournament appearance for the Eagles, which C-N lost to Rollins 5-0 in the opening round.
He was 32-14 as a singles player in his time with Carson-Newman, primarily playing as the four seed where he was 24-7.
Notably, he was 8-5 against nationally-ranked opposition in his career at C-N, including a 7-1 mark against nationally-ranked South Atlantic Conference foes.
