JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After four seasons coaching the men's and women's tennis programs at Carson-Newman, head tennis coach Jim Frederick has announced his retirement.
"Jim has been a valuable part of our Carson-Newman athletics family, leading our men and women's tennis programs for the last four years" Carson-Newman Vice President for Athletics Matt Pope said. "Not only have both tennis programs competitive success grown exponentially, but under Jim's oversight, our tennis student-athletes are some of the very highest performers in the classroom as well. All of this is a testament to Jim Frederick as a coach and more importantly, a person. His gentle leadership and love for each student-athlete under his care will be missed, and we wish him all the best in his retirement."
Frederick put the Carson-Newman men's and women's programs back on the national map. 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.
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.
Frederick previously worked as the Director of Junior Tennis at the Knoxville Racquet Club. The East Stroudsburg University graduate has spent the last 26 years in the Knoxville area working in tennis in some capacity. He spent more than a decade as the head professional at the Cedar Bluff Racquet Club and Beaverbrook Country Club.
Frederick has been highly involved with a litany of organizational bodies in the Southeast. He's worked the Greater Knoxville Tennis Association as a Junior Development Director and has spent time with the Tennessee Tennis Association as the Chairman of the Junior Team Tennis Committee.
He served as the president of USTA Tennessee from 2010-12 and worked as chairman of both the Tennessee Tennis Patrons Foundation and the Southern USTA Innovative Pro Relations Committee.
Prior to his days as a head professional, Frederick coached collegiately at Miami (Ohio) and Michigan State. He was 212-109 in 12 years as a collegiate head coach.
He helped Miami Ohio to a quartet of Mid-American Conference titles at the start of his coaching career with the Redhawks before rounding out his tenure in Oxford with a fifth MAC title in 1989. The Redhawks never finished below third in the MAC standings in Frederick's decade with the program. Miami also won a quartet of MAC tournament titles.
After Miami, Frederick did a two-year stint at Michigan State, taking over a Spartan men's tennis program that won one Big Ten match in a decade prior to his arrival. Frederick helped MSU snap a 63-match conference losing streak and garner its first league win since 1982. As a result, Michigan State improved by eight wins in his first year and garnered its most wins in a season in 23 years, since 1967.
Frederick played collegiately at East Stroudsburg where, as a two-year captain and most valuable player, he led the Warriors to two straight PSAC championships.
